/iilOVE  TME  BATT 


"'-■>■.  i^jT^-^-**- 


ROMAIN  R0LL\N1) 


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Ex  Ubris 
C.  K.  OGDEN 


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ABOVE  THE  BATTLE 


jA>l»feLUit..aiJtsIIKATJ 


"The  fire  smouldering  in  the  forest  of  Europe  was  be- 
ginning to  burst  into  flames.  In  vain  did  they  try  to  put  it 
out  in  one  place  :  it  only  broke  out  in  another.  With  gusts 
of  smoke  and  a  shower  of  sparks  it  swept  from  one  point  to 
another,  burning  the  dry  brushwood.  Already  in  the  East 
there  were  skirmishes  as  the  prelude  to  the  great  war  of  the 
nations.  AU  Europe,  Europe  that  only  yesterday  was 
sceptical  and  apathetic,  like  a  dead  wood,  was  swept  by 
the  flames.  All  men  were  possessed  by  the  desire  for  battle. 
War  was  ever  on  the  point  of  breaking  out.  It  was  stamped 
out,  but  it  sprang  to  life  again.  The  world  felt  that  it  was 
at  the  mercy  of  an  accident  that  might  let  loose  the  dogs  of 
war.  The  world  lay  in  wait.  The  feeling  of  inevitability 
weighed  heavily  even  upon  the  most  pacifically  minded. 
And  ideologues,  sheltered  beneath  the  massive  shadows  of 
the  Cyclops,  Proudhon,  hymned  in  war  man's  fairest  title  of 
nobility.  .  .  .'' 

"  This,  then,  was  to  be  the  end  of  the  physical  and  moral 
resurrection  of  the  races  of  the  West !  To  such  butchery 
they  li'ere  to  be  borne  along  by  the  currents  of  action  and 
passionate  faith  /  Only  a  Napoleonic  genius  could  have 
marked  out  a  chosen,  deliberate  aim  for  this  blitid,  onward 
rush.  But  nowhere  in  Europe  was  there  any  genius  for 
action.  It  was  as  though  the  world  had  chosen  the  most 
mediocre  to  be  its  governors.  The  force  of  the  human  mind 
was  in  other  things — so  there  zuas  ?iothing  to  be  done  but 
to  trust  to  the  declivity  down  which  they  were  moving. 
This  both  governors  and  governed  were  doing,  Europe 
looked  like  a  vast  armed  vigil." 

Jean-Christophe,  vol.  x  (1912). 

[English  translation  by  Gilbert  Cannan,  vol.  iv,  p.  504.] 


ABOVE  THE  BATTLE 


BY 

ROMAIN  ROLLAND 


TRANSLATED   BY 

C.  K.  OGDEN,  M.A. 

(Editor  of  The  Cambridge  Magazine) 


LONDON  :    GEORGE   ALLEN   &    UNWIN    LTD. 
RUSKIN    HOUSE      40  MUSEUM    STREET,  W.C. 


First  published  in  iqiO. 


{All  rights  ifsenxtl.) 


College 
Library 

a? 


INTRODUCTION 

'  Over  the  carnage  rose  prophetic  a  voice, 
Be  not  disheartened,  affection  shall  solve  the  problem  of 
freedom  yet. 

( Were  you  looking  to  be  held  together  by  lawyers  f 
Or  by  an  agreement  on  a  paper?  or  by  arms? 
Nay,  nor  the  world,  nor  any  living  thing,  will  so 
cohere.) " 

These  lines  of  Walt  Whitman  will  be  recalled 
by  many  who  read  the  following  pages  :  for  not 
only  does  Rolland  himself  refer  to  Whitman  in 
his  brief  Introduction,  but,  were  it  not  for  a 
certain  bizarrerie  apart  from  their  context,  the 
words  "  Over  the  Carnage "  might  perhaps  have 
stood  on  the  cover  of  this  volume  as  a  striking 
variant  on  Au-dessus  de  la  Melee. 

Yet  though  the  voice  comes  to  us  over  the 
carnage,  its  message  is  not  marred  by  the  pas- 
sions of  the  moment.  After  eighteen  months  of 
war  we  are  learning  to  look  about  us  more 
calmly,  and  to  distinguish  amid  the  ruins  those 

7 


xC'i:vrCXC4: 


Introduction 

of  Europe's  intellectual  leaders  who  have  not 
been  swept  off  their  feet  by  the  fury  of  the 
tempest.  Almost  alone  Romain  Rolland  has 
stood  the  test.  The  two  main  characteristics 
which  strike  us  in  all  that  he  writes  are  lucidity 
and  commonsense — the  qualities  most  needed  by 
every  one  in  thought  upon  the  war.  But  there 
is  another  feature  of  Rolland's  work  which  con- 
tributes to  its  universal  appeal.  He  describes 
our  feelings  and  sensations  in  the  presence  of  a 
given  situation,  not  what  actually  passes  before 
our  eyes :  he  describes  the  effects  and  causes  of 
things,  but  not  the  things  themselves.  Through 
his  work  for  the  Agence  internationale  des 
prisonniers  de  guerre^  to  which  one  of  the 
articles  now  collected  is  largely  devoted,  he  is, 
moreover,  in  a  position  to  observe  every  phase 
of  the  great  battle  between  ideals  and  between 
nations  which  fills  him  with  such  anguish  and 
indignation.  And  with  his  matchless  insight  and 
sympathy  he  gives  permanent  form  to  our  vague 
feelings  in  these  noble  and  inspiring  essays. 

It  will  not,  however,  surprise  the  vast  public 
who  have  read  Jean-Christophe  to  find  that  while 
so  many  have  capitulated  to  the  madness  of  the 
terrible  year  through  which  we  have  passed, 
Rolland   has   remained    firm,  and   has  surpassed 

8 


Introduction 

himself.  He  was  prepared.  As  the  extract 
placed  at  the  beginning  of  this  volume  shows, 
he  was  one  of  the  few  who  realised  only  too 
well  the  horror  he  was  powerless  to  prevent. 
Yet  he  made  every  effort  to  open  the  eyes  of 
Europe  and  especially  of  the  young,  so  many  of 
whom  had  learned  to  look  up  to  him  as  a 
leader.  To  these  young  men,  one  of  the  finest 
essays  in  the  present  collection  is  primarily 
addressed — O  jeunesse  heroique  du   monde,  .  .  . 

Eighteen  months  have  passed  and  they  still 
endure  the  terrible  ordeal,  the  young  men  of 
Germany  and  France,  whom  he  had  striven  so 
hard  to  bring  together ;  on  whose  aspirations 
and  failings  Jean-Christophe  is  a  critical  com- 
mentary. The  movements  and  tendencies  of 
society  were  there  given  a  dramatic  embodi- 
ment, permeated  for  Rolland  by  the  Life  Force 
— that  struggle  between  Good  and  Bad,  Love 
and  Hatred,  which  makes  life  worth  living.  All 
is  set  down  with  the  clear  analysis  of  feeling 
natural  to  a  musical  critic.  But  in  spite  of  his 
burning  words  on  the  destruction  of  Rheims, 
Rolland,  as  is  clear  from  his  other  critical  and 
biographical  writings,  is  more  interested  in  men 
than  in  their  achievements.  And  the  men  of 
to-day  interest  him  most   passionately.     "Young 

9 


Introduction 

men,"  he  has  said,  "  do  not  bother  about  the  old 
people.  Make  a  stepping-stone  of  our  bodies 
and  go  forward." 

And  above  all  it  is  the  permanent  things  in 
life  with  which  he  is  concerned.  As  Mr.  Lowes 
Dickinson  puts  it,  "  M.  Rolland  is  one  of  the 
many  who  believe,  though  their  voice  for  the 
moment  may  be  silenced,  that  the  spiritual 
forces  that  are  important  and  ought  to  prevail 
are  the  international  ones ;  that  co-operation,  not 
war,  is  the  right  destiny  of  nations  ;  and  that 
all  that  is  valuable  in  each  people  may  be  main- 
tained in  and  by  friendly  intercourse  with  the 
others.  The  war  between  these  two  ideals  is 
the  greater  war  that  lies  behind  the  present 
conflict.  Hundreds  and  thousands  of  generous 
youths  have  gone  to  battle  in  the  belief  that 
they  are  going  to  a  *  war  that  will  end  war,' 
that  they  are  fighting  against  militarism  in  the 
cause  of  peace.  Whether,  indeed,  it  is  for  that 
they  will  have  risked  or  lost  their  lives,  only  the 
event  can  show." 

The  forces  against  such  ideals  are  powerful, 
but  Rolland  is  not  dismayed.  "  Come,  friends  ! 
let  us  make  a  stand !  Can  we  not  resist  this 
contagion,  whatever  its  nature  and  virulence  be 
— whether  moral  epidemic  or  cosmic  force."     And 

lO 


Introduction 

he  appeals  not  only  in  the  name  of  humanity 
but  in  the  name  of  that  France  which  he  loves 
so  dearly — "  la  vraie  France  "  of  which  Jaur^s 
wrote  (in  the  untranslatable  words  which  Rol- 
land  has  quoted),  "qui  n'est  pas  resum^e  dans 
une  6poque  et  dans  un  jour,  ni  dans  le  jour  d'il 
y  a  des  si^cles,  ni  dans  le  jour  d'hier,  mais  la 
France  tout  entiere,  dans  la  succession  de  ses 
jours,  de  ses  nuits,  de  ses  aurores,  de  ses 
crepuscules,  de  ses  mont^es,  de  ses  chutes,  et 
qui,  a  travers  toutes  ces  ombres  melees,  toutes 
ces  lumieres  incompletes  et  toutes  ces  vicissi- 
tudes, s'en  va  vers  une  pleine  clarte  qu'elle  n'a 
pas  encore  atteinte,  mais  dont  le  pressentiment 
est  dans  sa  pensee  !  " 

But  though  his  love  of  France  inspires  every 
word  that  Rolland  has  written,  the  significance 
of  the  present  volume  is  not  less  apparent  to 
English  readers.  Some  of  the  articles  and  letters 
now  collected  have  already  appeared  in  English, 
for  the  most  part  in  the  pages  of  The  Cam- 
bridge Magazine,  from  which  they  have  been 
widely  quoted  in  the  press.  For  help  in  render- 
ing the  translations  as  adequate  as  possible  I 
may  also  take  this  opportunity  of  acknowledging 
my  special  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Roger  Fry,^  who 

'  Foi-  translating  "The  Murder  of  the  Elite." 
II 


Introduction 

has  just  issued  through  the  Omega  Workshops 
a  striking  translation  of  some  of  the  most  recent 
French  poetry  inspired  by  the  war ;  to  Mr. 
James  Wood,  who  has  himself  done  part  of  the 
translation,  particularly  "  Pro  Aris  " ;  and  to  Mr. 
E.  K.  Bennett,  of  Caius  College,  whose  version 
of  "  Above  the  Battle "  has  already  been  quoted 
by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  others. 
For  the  most  part,  the  articles  here  collected 
have  not  appeared  in  English  before ;  and  they 
have  been  almost  inaccessible  even  in  French, 
as  their  author  explains  in  his  Preface. 


C.  K.  OGDEN. 


Magdalene  College,  Cambridge, 
January  191 6. 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR  . 
PREFACE    ...... 

I.     AN  OPEN   LETTER    TO    GERHART    HAUPTMANN 
II.      PRO  ARIS    ..... 

III.  ABOVE  THE  BATTLE 

IV.  THE  LESSER  OF  TWO  EVILS 

V.     INTER  ARMA  CARITAS       . 

VI.     TO    THE    PEOPLE    THAT     IS     SUFFERING     FOR 
JUSTICE  .... 

VII.  LETTER  TO  MY  CRITICS    . 

VIII.  THE  IDOLS  .  . 

IX.  FOR  EUROPE  (SPAIN) 

X.  FOR  EUROPE  (HOLLAND). 

XI.  LETTER  TO   FREDERIK  VAN   EEDEN 

XII.  OUR  NEIGHBOUR  THE  ENEMY     . 

XIII.  LETTER  TO  THE   "  SVENSKA  DAGBLADET  " 

XIV.  WAR  LITERATURE 
XV.  THE  MURDER  OF  THE   ELITE       . 

XVI.  JAURES    ..... 

13 


PAGE 

7 
15 
19 
23 

yi 
56 
75 

92 

96 

106 

121 

126 

135 
141 

ISO 
152 
167 
180 


It  is  my  pleasant  duty  to  thank  the  brave 
friends  who  have  defended  me  during  the  past 
year,  in  the  Parisian  press : — at  the  end  of  October 
1 9 14,  Am6dee  Dunois,  in  VHumanite^  and  Henri 
Guilbeaux,  in  the  Bataille  syndicaliste ;  in  the 
same  paper,  Fernand  Deprcs ;  Georges  Pioch, 
in  the  Hotmnes  du  Jour;  J.  M.  Renaitour,  in 
the  Bonnet  Rouge ;  Rouanet,  in  P Humanite ; 
Jacques  Mesnil,  in  the  Mercure  de  France,  and 
Gaston  Thiesson,  in  the  Guerre  Sociale.  To 
these  faithful  comrades  in  the  struggle  I  express 
my  affectionate  gratitude. 

R.  R. 
October  1915. 


14 


PREFACE 

A  GREAT  nation  assailed  by  war  has  not  only  its 
frontiers  to  protect  :  it  must  also  protect  its 
good  sense.  It  must  protect  itself  from  the  hallu- 
cinations, injustices,  and  follies  which  the  plague 
lets  loose.  To  each  his  part :  to  the  armies  the 
protection  of  the  soil  of  their  native  land.  To  the 
thinkers  the  defence  of  its  thought.  If  they 
subordinate  that  thought  to  the  passions  of  their 
people  they  may  well  be  useful  instruments  of 
passion  ;  but  they  are  in  danger  of  betraying  the 
spirit,  which  is  not  the  least  part  of  a  people's 
patrimony.  One  day  History  will  pass  judgment 
on  each  of  the  nations  at  war ;  she  will  weigh 
their  measure  of  errors,  lies,  and  heinous  follies. 
Let  us  try  and  make  ours  light  before  her ! 

Children  are  taught  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  and 
the  Christian  ideal.  Everything  in  the  educa- 
tion they  receive  at  school  is  designed  to 
stimulate  in  them  intellectual  understanding  of 
the  great  human  family.  Classical  education 
makes  them  see,  beyond  the  differences  of  race, 
the  roots  and  the  common  trunk  of  our  civilisa- 

15 


Preface 

tion.  Art  makes  them  love  the  profound  sources 
of  the  genius  of  a  people.  Science  makes  them 
believe  in  the  unity  of  reason.  The  great  social 
movement  which  renews  the  world,  reveals  the 
organised  effort  of  the  working  classes  all  round 
them  to  unite  their  forces  in  the  hopes  and 
struggles  which  break  the  barriers  of  nations. 
The  brightest  geniuses  of  the  earth  chant,  like 
Walt  Whitman  and  Tolstoi,  universal  brother- 
hood in  joy  and  suffering,  or  else  as  our  Latin 
spirits,  pierce  with  their  criticism  the  prejudices 
of  hatred  and  ignorance  which  separate  indi- 
viduals and  peoples. 

Like  all  the  men  of  my  time  I  have  been 
brought  up  on  these  thoughts ;  I  have  tried  in 
my  turn  to  share  the  bread  of  life  with  my 
younger  or  less  fortunate  brothers.  When  the 
war  came  I  did  not  think  it  my  duty  to  deny 
these  thoughts  because  the  hour  had  come  to 
put  them  to  the  test. 

I  have  been  insulted.  I  knew  that  I  should  be 
and  I  went  forward.  But  I  did  not  know  that 
I  should  be  insulted  without  even  a  hearing. 

For  several  months  no  one  in  France  could 
know  my  writings  except  through  scraps  of 
phrases  arbitrarily  extracted  and  mutilated  by 
my    enemies.      It    is    a    shameful    record.      For 

l6 


Preface 

nearly  a  year  this  has  gone  on.  Certain  socialist 
or  syndicalist  papers  may  have  succeeded  here 
and  there  in  getting  some  fragments  through,^ 
but  it  was  only  in  the  month  of  June  1915  that 
for  the  first  time  my  chief  article,  the  one  which 
was  the  object  of  the  most  violent  criticism, 
"  Above  the  Battle,"  dating  from  September 
1914,  could  be  published  in  full  (almost  in  full), 
thanks  to  the  malevolent  zeal  of  a  maladroit  pam- 
phleteer, to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  bringing  my 
words  before  the  French  public  for  the  first  time. 

A  Frenchman  does  not  judge  his  adversary 
unheard.  Whoever  does  so  judges  and  condemns 
himself:  for  he  shows  that  he  fears  the  light. 
I  place  before  the  world  the  texts  they  have 
slandered.2  I  shall  not  defend  them.  Let  them 
defend  themselves ! 

'  One  article  only,  "The  Idols,"  may,  I  think,  have  been 
published  in  its  entirety  in  La  Bataille  syndicaliste. 

*  I  leave  my  articles  in  their  cVironological  order.  I  have 
changed  nothing  in  them.  The  reader  will  notice,  in  the 
stress  of  events,  certain  contradictions  and  hasty  judgments 
which  I  would  modify  to-day.  ...  In  general,  the  senti- 
ments expressed  have  arisen  out  of  indignation  and  pity. 
In  proportion  as  the  immensity  of  the  ruin  extends  one  feels 
the  poverty  of  protest,  as  before  an  earthquake.  "There 
is  more  than  one  war,"  wrote  the  aged  Rodin  to  me  on  the 
1st  of  October,  1914.  "  What  is  happening  is  like  a  punish- 
ment which  falls  on  the  world." 

17  B 


Preface 

One  single  word  will  I  add.  For  a  year  I  have 
been  rich  in  enemies.  Let  me  say  this  to  them : 
they  can  hate  me,  but  they  will  not  teach  me 
to  hate.  I  have  no  concern  with  them.  My 
business  is  to  say  what  I  believe  to  be  fair  and 
humane.  Whether  this  pleases  or  irritates  is 
not  my  business.  I  know  that  words  once 
uttered  make  their  way  of  themselves.  Hope- 
fully I  sow  them  in  the  bloody  soil.  The  harvest 
will  come. 

ROMAIN   ROLLAND. 

September  1915. 


18 


AN   OPEN  LETTER  TO  GERHART  HAUPTMANN 

Saturday,  August  29,  1914." 
I  AM  not,  Gerhart  Hauptmann,  one  of  those 
Frenchmen  who  regard  Germany  as  a  nation  of 
barbarians.  I  know  the  intellectual  and  moral 
greatness  of  your  mighty  race.  I  know  all  that 
I  owe  to  the  thinkers  of  old  Germany  ;  and  even 
now,  at  this  hour,  I  recall  the  example  and  the 
words  of  our  Goethe — for  he  belongs  to  the 
whole  of  humanity — repudiating  all  national 
hatreds  and  preserving  the  calmness  of  his  soul 
on  those  heights  "  where  we  feel  the  happiness  and 
the  misfortunes  of  other  peoples  as  our  own."  I 
myself  have  laboured  all  my  life  to  bring  together 
the  minds  of  our  two  nations ;  and  the  atrocities 
of    this   impious   war   in    which,    to   the   ruin   of 

'  A  telegram  from  Berlin  (WoliFs  Agency),  reproduced  by 
the  Gazette  de  Lausanne,  August  29, 1914,  has  just  announced 
that  "  the  old  town  of  Louvain,  rich  in  works  of  art,  exists 
no  more  to-day." 

19 


Above  the  Battle 

European  civilisation,  they  are  involved,  will  never 
lead  me  to  soil  my  spirit  with  hatred. 

Whatever  pain,  then,  your  Germany  may  give 
me,  whatever  reasons  I  may  have  to  stigmatise 
as  criminal  German  policy  and  the  means  it 
employs,  I  do  not  attach  responsibility  for  it  to 
the  people  which  is  burdened  with  it  and  is  used 
as  its  blind  instrument.  It  is  not  that  I  regard, 
as  you  do,  war  as  a  fatality.  A  Frenchman  does 
not  believe  in  fatality.  Fatality  is  the  excuse  of 
souls  without  a  will.  War  springs  from  the 
weakness  and  stupidity  of  nations.  One  cannot 
feel  resentment  against  them  for  it ;  one  can  only 
pity  them.  I  do  not  reproach  you  with  our 
miseries  ;  for  yours  will  be  no  less.  If  France 
is  ruined,  Germany  will  be  ruined  too.  I  did  not 
even  raise  my  voice  when  I  saw  your  armies 
violating  the  neutrality  of  noble  Belgium.  This 
flagrant  breach  of  honour,  which  incurs  the  con- 
tempt of  every  upright  conscience,  is  quite  in  the 
political  tradition  of  your  Prussian  kings ;  it  did 
not  surprise  me. 

But  when  I  see  the  fury  with  which  you  are 
treating  that  magnanimous  nation  whose  only 
crime  has  been  to  defend  its  independence  and 
the  cause  of  justice  to  the  last,  as  you  Germans 
yourselves  did   in    1813  ..  .  that  is   too    much! 

20 


Letter  to  Gerhart  Hauptmann 

The  world  is  revolted  by  it.  Keep  these 
savageries  for  us  Frenchmen,  your  true  enemies ! 
But  to  wreak  them  against  your  victims,  against 
this  small,  unhappy,  innocent  Belgian  people  .  .  . 
how  shameful  is  this  ! 

And  not  content  to  fling  yourselves  on  living 
Belgium,  you  wage  war  on  the  dead,  on  the 
glories  of  past  ages.  You  bombard  Malines,  you 
burn  Rubens,  and  Louvain  is  now  no  more  than 
a  heap  of  ashes — Louvain  with  its  treasures  of 
art  and  of  science,  the  sacred  town !  What  are 
you,  then,  Hauptmann,  and  by  what  name  do 
you  want  us  to  call  you  now,  since  you  repudi- 
ate the  title  of  barbarians  ?  Are  you  the  grand- 
sons of  Goethe  or  of  Attila?  Are  you  making 
war  on  enemies  or  on  the  human  spirit  ?  Kill 
men  if  you  like,  but  respect  masterpieces.  They 
are  the  patrimony  of  the  human  race.  You,  like 
all  the  rest  of  us,  are  its  depositories  ;  in  pillaging 
it,  as  you  do,  you  show  yourselves  unworthy  of 
our  great  heritage,  unworthy  to  take  your  place 
in  that  little  European  army  which  is  civilisation's 
guard  of  honour. 

It  is  not  to  the  opinion  of  the  rest  of  the  world 
that  I  address  myself  in  challenging  you,  Haupt- 
mann. In  the  name  of  our  Europe,  of  which 
you  have  hitherto  been  one  of  the  most  illustrious 

21 


Above  the  Battle 

champions,  in  the  name  of  that  civih'sation  for 
which  the  greatest  of  men  have  striven  all  down 
the  ages,  in  the  name  of  the  very  honour  of  your 
Germanic  race,  Gerhart  Hauptmann,  I  aaure^i 
you,  I  challenge  you,  you  and  the  intellectuals 
of  Germany,  amongst  whom  I  reckon  so  many 
friends,  to  protest  with  all  your  energy  against 
this  crime  which  is  recoiling  upon  you. 

If  you  fail  to  do  this,  you  will  prove  one 
of  two  things :  either  that  you  approve  what 
has  been  done — and  in  that  case  may  the  opinion 
of  mankind  crush  you — or  else  that  you  are 
powerless  to  raise  a  protest  against  the  Huns 
who  command  you.  If  this  be  so,  by  what  title 
can  you  still  claim,  as  you  have  claimed,  that  you 
fight  for  the  cause  of  liberty  and  human  pro- 
gress ?  You  are  giving  the  world  a  proof  that, 
incapable  of  defending  the  liberty  of  the  world, 
you  are  even  incapable  of  defending  your  own, 
and  that  the  best  of  Germany  is  helpless 
beneath  a  vile  despotism  which  mutilates  master- 
pieces and  murders  the  spirit  of  man. 

I  am  expecting  an  answer  from  you,  Haupt- 
mann, an  answer  that  may  be  an  act.  The 
opinion  of  Europe  awaits  it  as  I  do.  Think  about 
it :  at  such  a  time  silence  itself  is  an  act. 

Journal  de  Geneve^  Wednesday,  September  2,  1914. 
22 


II 

PRO   ARIS 

September  191 4.' 

Among  the  many  crimes  of  this  infamous  war 
which  are  all  odious  to  us,  why  have  we  chosen 
for  protest  the  crimes  against  things  and  not 
against  men,  the  destruction  of  works  and  not  of 
lives? 

Many  are  surprised  by  this,  and  have  even  re- 
proached us  for  it — as  if  we  have  not  as  much 
pity  as  they  for  the  bodies  and  hearts  of  the 
thousands  of  victims  who  are  crucified !  Yet 
over  the  armies  which  fall,  there  flies  the  vision  of 
their  love,  and  of  la  Patrie,  to  which  they 
sacrifice  themselves — over  these  lives  which  are 
passing  away  passes  the  holy  Ark  of  the  art 
and  thought  of  centuries,  borne  on  their  shoulders. 
The  bearers  can  change.  May  the  x'\rk  be  saved  ! 
To  the  elite  of  the  world  falls  the  task  of 
guarding  it.  And  since  the  common  treasure  is 
threatened,  may  they  rise  to  protect  it ! 

'  Written  after  the  bombardment  of  Rheims  Cathedral. 
23 


Above  the  Battle 

I  am  glad  to  think  that  in  the  Latin  countries 
this  sacred  duty  has  always  been  regarded  as 
paramount.  Our  France  which  bleeds  with  so 
many  other  wounds,  has  suffered  nothing  more 
cruel  than  the  attack  against  her  Parthenon,  the 
Cathedral  of  Rheims,  "  Our  Lady  of  France." 
Letters  which  I  have  received  from  sorely  tried 
families,  and  from  soldiers  who  for  two  months 
have  borne  every  hardship,  show  me  (and  I  am 
proud  of  it  for  them  and  for  my  people)  that 
there  was  no  burden  heavier  for  them  to  bear. 
It  is  because  we  put  spirit  above  flesh.  Very 
different  is  the  case  of  the  German  intellectuals, 
who,  to  my  reproaches  for  the  sacrilegious  acts 
)f  their  devastating  armies,  have  all  replied  with 
me  voice,  "  Perish  every  chef-cT ceuvre  rather  than 
^one  German  soldier  !  " 

A  piece  of  architecture  like  Rheims  is  much 
more  than  one  life  :  it  is  a  people — whose  centuries 
vibrate  like  a  symphony  in  this  organ  of  stone. 
It  is  their  memories  of  joy,  of  glory,  and  of  grief; 
their  meditations,  ironies,  dreams.  It  is  the  tree 
of  the  race,  whose  roots  plunge  to  the  profoundest 
depths  of  its  soil,  and  whose  branches  stretch  with 
a  sublime  elan  towards  the  sky.  It  is  still  more  : 
its  beauty  which  soars  above  the  struggles  of 
nations  is  the  harmonious  response  made  by  the 

24 


Pro  Aris 

human  race  to  the  riddle  of  the  world — this  light 
of  the  spirit  more  necessary  to  souls  than  that 
of  the  sun. 

Whoever  destroys  this  work,  murders  more  than 
a  man ;  he  murders  the  purest  soul  of  a  race. 
His  crime  is  inexpiable,  and  Dante  would  have  it 
punished  with  an  eternal  agony,  eternally  renewed. 
We  who  repudiate  the  vindictive  spirit  of  so  cruel 
a  genius,  do  not  hold  a  people  responsible  for  the 
crimes  of  a  few.  The  drama  which  unfolds  itself 
before  our  eyes,  and  whose  almost  certain  denoue- 
ment will  be  the  crushing  of  the  German  hege- 
nomy,  is  enough  for  us. 

What  brings  it  home  to  us  most  nearly  is  that 
not  one  of  those  who  constitute  the  moral  and 
intellectual  elite  of  Germany — that  hundred  noble 
spirits,  and  those  thousands  of  brave  hearts  of 
which  no  great  nation  was  ever  destitute — not  one 
really  suspects  the  crimes  of  his  Government ;  the 
atrocities  committed  in  Flanders,  in  the  north 
and  in  the  east  of  France  during  the  two  or  three 
first  weeks  of  the  war ;  or  (one  can  safely  wager) 
the  voluntary  devastations  of  the  towns  of  Belgium 
and  the  ruin  of  Rheims.  If  they  came  to  look 
at  the  reality,  I  know  that  many  of  them  would 
weep  with  grief  and  shame  ;  and  of  all  the  short- 
comings of  Prussian   Imperialism,  the  worst  and 

25 


Above  the  Battle 

the  vilest  is  to  have  concealed  its  crimes  from 
its  people.  For  by  depriving  them  of  the  means 
of  protesting  against  those  crimes,  it  has  involved 
them  for  ever  in  the  responsibility  ;  it  has  abused 
their  magnificent  devotion.  The  intellectuals, 
however,  are  also  guilty.  For  if  one  admits 
that  the  brave  men,  who  in  every  country  tamely 
feed  upon  the  news  which  their  papers  and 
their  leaders  give  them  for  nourishment,  allow 
themselves  to  be  duped,  one  cannot  pardon  those 
whose  duty  it  is  to  seek  truth  in  the  midst  of 
error,  and  to  know  the  value  of  interested 
witnesses  and  passionate  hallucinations.  Before 
bursting  into  the  midst  of  this  furious  debate 
upon  which  was  staked  the  destruction  of  nations 
and  of  the  treasures  of  the  spirit,  their  first  duty 
(a  duty  of  loyalty  as  much  as  of  common-sense) 
should  have  been  to  consider  the  problems  from 
both  sides.  By  blind  loyalty  and  culpable  trust- 
fulness they  have  rushed  head-foremost  into  the 
net  which  their  Imperialism  had  spread.  They 
believed  that  their  first  duty  was,  with  their  eyes 
closed,  to  defend  the  honour  of  their  State  against 
all  accusation.  They  did  not  see  that  the  noblest 
means  of  defending  it  was  to  disavow  its  faults 
and  to  cleanse  their  country  of  them.  .  .  . 
I  have  awaited  this  virile  disavowal  from  the 
26 


Pro  Aris 

proudest  spirits  of  Germany,  a  disavowal  which 
would  have  been  ennobling  instead  of  humiliating. 
The  letter  which  I  wrote  to  one  of  them,  the  day 
after  the  brutal  voice  of  Wolff's  Agency  pompously 
proclaimed  that  there  remained  of  Louvain  no 
more  than  a  heap  of  ashes,  was  received  by  the 
entire  61ite  of  Germany  in  a  spirit  of  enmity. 
They  did  not  understand  that  I  offered  them  the 
chance  of  releasing  Germany  from  the  fetters  of 
those  crimes  which  its  Empire  was  forging  in  its 
name.  What  did  I  ask  of  them?  What  did  I 
ask  of  you  all,  finer  spirits  of  Germany? — to 
express  at  least  a  courageous  regret  for  the  ex- 
cesses committed,  and  to  dare  to  remind  unbridled 
power  that  even  the  Fatherland  cannot  save  itself 
through  crime,  and  that  above  its  rights  are  those 
of  the  human  spirit.  I  only  asked  for  one  voice — 
a  single  free  voice.  .  .  .  None  spoke.  I  heard 
only  the  clamour  of  herds,  the  pack  of  intellectuals 
giving  tongue  on  the  track  whereon  the  hunter 
loosed  them,  and  that  insolent  Manifesto,  in  which 
without  the  slightest  effort  to  justify  its  crimes 
you  have  unanimously  declared  that  they  do  not 
exist.  And  your  theologians,  your  pastors,  your 
court-preachers,  have  stated  further  that  you  are 
very  just  and  that  you  thank  God  for  having  made 
you  thus.  .  .  .  Race  of  Pharisees,  what  chastise- 

27 


Above  the  Battle 

ment  from  on  high  shall  scourge  your  sacrilegious 
pride !  .  .  .  Do  you  not  suspect  the  evil  which 
you  have  done  to  your  own  people !  The  mega- 
lomania, a  menace  to  the  world,  of  an  Ostwald 
or  an  H.  S.  Chamberlain,^  the  criminal  determina- 
tion of  ninety-three  intellectuals  not  to  wish  to 
see  the  truth,  will  have  cost  Germany  more 
than  ten  defeats. 

'  When  I  wrote  this,  I  had  not  yet  seen  the  monstrous 
article  by  Thomas  Mann  (in  the  Neiie  Rundschau  of 
November  1914),  where,  in  a  fit  of  fury  and  injured  pride,  he 
savagely  claimed  for  Germany,  as  a  title  to  glory,  all  the 
crimes  of  which  her  adversaries  accuse  her.  He  dared  to 
write  that  the  present  war  was  a  war  of  German  Kultur 
"against  Civilisation,"  proclaiming  that  German  thought 
had  no  other  ideal  than  militarism,  and  inscribes  on  his 
banner  the  following  lines,  the  apology  of  force  oppressing 
weakness  : 

^''  Denn  der  Mensch  verki'immert  im  Friedeji^ 
Mi'issige  Ruh  ist  das  Grab  des  Muts. 
Das  Gesetz  ist  der  Freund  des  Schwachen^ 
A  lies  will  es  nur  eben  machen. 
Mochte  gem  die  Well  verflachen, 
Aber  der  Krieg  liisst  die  Kraft  erscheinen.  ..." 

{Man  deteriorates  in  peace.  Idle  rest  is  the  tomb  of  courage. 
Law  is  the  friend  of  the  weak,  it  aims  at  levelling  all; 
it  would  reduce  the  world  to  a  level.  War  brings  out 
strength) 

Even  so  a  bull  in  the  arena,  mad  with  rage,  rushes  with 
lowered_^head  on  the  matador's  sword,  and  impales  himself. 

28 


Pro  Aris 

How  clumsy  you  are  !  I  believe  that  of  all  your 
faults  maladresse  is  the  worst.  You  have  not 
said  one  word  since  the  beginning  of  this  war 
which  has  not  been  more  fatal  for  you  than 
all  the  speeches  of  your  adversaries.  It  is  you 
who  have  light-heartedly  furnished  the  proof  or 
the  argument  of  the  worst  accusations  that  have 
been  brought  against  you  ;  just  as  your  official 
agencies,  under  the  stupid  illusion  of  terrorising 
us,  have  been  the  first  to  launch  emphatic  recitals 
of  your  most  sinister  devastations.  It  is  you, 
who  when  the  most  impartial  of  your  adversaries 
were  obliged,  in  fairness,  to  limit  the  responsibility 
of  these  acts  to  a  few  of  your  leaders  and  armies, 
have  angrily  claimed  your  share.  It  is  you  who 
the  day  after  the  destruction  of  Rheims,  which,  in 
your  inmost  hearts,  should  have  dismayed  the  best 
amongst  you,  have  boasted  of  it  in  imbecile  pride, 
instead  of  trying  to  clear  yourselves.^  It  is  you, 
wretched  creatures,  you,  representatives  of  the 
spirit,  who  have  not  ceased  to  extol  force  and  to 

'  As  one  of  these  'pedants  of  barbarism'  (so  Miguel  de 
Unamuno  rightly  describes  them)  writes,  "  one  has  the  right 
to  destroy,  if  one  has  the  force  to  create  "  (Wer  stark  ist  zu 
schaffen,  der  darf  auch  zerstoren). — Friedr  Gundolf :  Tat 
und  Wort  im  Krieg,  published  in  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung, 
October  nth.  Cf.  the  article  of  the  aged  Hans  Thoraa,  in 
the  Leipziger  Illttstrierte  Zeitting  of  October  ist. 

29 


Above  the  Battle 

despise  the  weak,  as  if  you  did  not  know  that 
the  wheel  of  fortune  turns,  that  this  force  one 
day  will  weigh  afresh  upon  you,  as  in  past  ages, 
when  your  great  men,  at  least,  retained  the  con- 
solation of  not  having  yielded  to  it  the  sovereignty 
of  the  spirit  and  the  sacred  rights  of  Right !  .  .  . 
What  reproaches,  what  remorse  are  you  heaping 
up  for  the  future,  O  blind  guides — you  who  are 
leading  into  the  ditch  your  nation,  which  follows 
you  like  the  stumbling  blind  men  of  Brueghel ! 
What  poor  arguments  you  have  opposed  to 
us  for  two  months ! 

1.  IVar  is  war,  say  you,  that  is  to  say  without 
common  measure  with  the  rest  of  things,  above 
morals  and  reason  and  all  the  limits  of  ordinary 
life,  a  kind  of  supernatural  state  before  which 
one  can  only  bow  without  discussion  ; 

2.  Germany  is  Germany,  that  is  to  say  with- 
out common  measure  with  the  rest  of  nations. 
The  laws  which  apply  to  others  do  not  apply 
to  her,  and  the  rights  which  she  arrogates  to 
herself  to  violate  Right  appertain  to  her  alone. 
Thus  she  can,  without  crime,  tear  up  written 
promises,  betray  sworn  oaths,  violate  the 
neutrality  of  peoples  which  she  has  pledged  her- 
self to  defend.  But  she  claims  in  return  the 
right  to  find,  in  the  nations  which  she  outrages, 

30 


Pro  Aris 

"chivalrous  adversaries,"  and  that  they  should 
not  be  so,  that  they  should  dare  to  defend  them- 
selves by  all  the  means  and  the  arms  that  remain 
to  them,  she  proclaims  a  crime  !  .  .  . 

One  recognises  there  indeed  the  interested 
teaching  of  your  Prussian  masters  !  Great  minds 
of  Germany,  I  do  not  doubt  your  sincerity, 
but  you  are  no  longer  capable  of  seeing  the 
truth.  Prussian  Imperialism  has  crushed  down 
over  your  eyes  and  conscience  its  spiked 
helmet. 

''Necessity  knows  no  law''  .  .  .  Here  is  the 
eleventh  commandment,  the  message  that  you 
bring  to  the  universe  to-day,  sons  of  Kant !  .  .  . 
We  have  heard  it  more  than  once  in  history :  it 
is  the  famous  doctrine  of  Public  Safety,  mother 
of  heroisms  and  crimes.  Every  nation  has  re- 
course to  it  in  the  hour  of  danger,  but  the 
greatest  are  those  who  defend  against  it  their 
immortal  soul.  Fifteen  years  have  passed  since 
the  famous  trial  which  saw  a  single  innocent 
man  opposed  to  the  force  of  the  State.  Fifteen 
years  have  passed  since  we  French  affronted 
and  shattered  the  idol  of  public  safety,  when  it 
threatened,  as  our  P^guy  says,  "the  eternal 
safety  of  France." 

Listen  to  him,  whom  you  have  killed  ;  listen 
31 


Above  the  Battle 

to  a  hero  of  the  French  conscience,  writers 
who  have  the  keeping  of  the  conscience  of 
Germany. 

"  Our  enemies  of  that  time"  wrote  Charles 
P6guy,  "  spoke  the  language  of  the  raison  d'Etat, 
of  the  temporal  safety  of  the  people  and  the  race. 
But  ive^  by  a  profound  Christian  movement^  by 
a  revolutionary  effort,  at  unity  with  traditional 
Christiatiity,  aimed  at  no  less  than  attaining  the 
heights  of  sacrifice,  in  our  anxiety  for  the  eternal 
salvation  of  this  people.  We  did  not  wish  to 
place  France  in  the  position  of  having  committed 
the  unpardonable  sin." 

You  do  not  trouble  yourselves  about  that, 
thinkers  of  Germany.  You  bravely  give  your 
blood  to  save  the  mortal  life,  but  do  not  bother 
about  the  life  eternal.  It  is  a  terrible  moment, 
I  grant.  Your  fatherland  as  ours  struggles  for 
its  life,  and  I  understand  and  admire  the  ecstasy 
of  sacrifice  which  impels  your  youth,  as  ours, 
to  make  of  its  body  a  rampart  against  death. 
"  To  be  or  not  to  be,"  do  you  say  ?  No,  that 
is  not  enough.  To  be  the  great  Germany,  to 
be  the  great  France,  worthy  of  their  past,  and 
respecting  one  another  even  while  fighting,  that 
is  what  I  wish.  I  should  blush  for  victory  if 
my  France  bought  it  at  the  price  for  which  you 

32 


Pro  Aris 

will  pay  for  your  temporary  success.  Even  while 
the  battles  are  being  fought  upon  the  plains 
of  Belgium  and  amongst  the  chalky  slopes  of 
Champagne,  another  war  is  taking  place  upon  the 
field  of  the  spirit,  and  often  victory  below  means 
defeat  above.  The  conquest  of  Belgium,  Malines, 
Louvain  and  Rheim^  the  carillons  of  Flanders, 
will  sound  a  sadder  knell  in  your  history  thanj 
the  bells  of  Jena  ;  and  the  conquered  Belgians 
have  robbed  you  of  your  glory.  You  know  it. 
You  are  enraged  because  you  know  it.  What  is 
the  good  of  vainly  trying  to  deceive  yourselves? 
Truth  will  be  clear  to  you  in  the  end.  You 
have  done  your  best  to  silence  her — one  day  she 
will  speak ;  she  will  speak  by  the  mouth  of  one 
of  your  own  in  whom  will  be  awakened  the 
conscience  of  your  race.  .  .  .  Oh,  that  he  may 
soon  appear  and  that  we  may  hear  his  voice 
— the  pure  and  noble  voice  of  the  redeemer  who 
shall  set  you  free !  He  who  has  lived  in  the 
intimacy  of  your  old  Germany,  who  has  clasped 
her  hand  in  the  twisted  streets  of  her  heroic 
and  sordid  past,  who  has  caught  the  breath  of 
her  centuries  off  trials  and  shames,  remembers 
and  waits :  for  he  knows  that  even  if  she  has 
never  proved  strong  enough  to  bear  victory 
without  wavering,  it  is   in   her  hours  of  trouble 

33  C 


Above  the  Battle 

that  she  reforms  herself,  and  her  greatest  geniuses 
are  sons  of  sorrow. 

September  1914. 

Since  these  lines  were  written  I  have  watched 
the  birth  of  the  anxiety  which  little  by  little  is 
making  its  way  into  the  consciences  of  the  good 
people  of  Germany.  First  a  secret  doubt,  kept 
under  by  a  stubborn  effort  to  believe  the  bad 
arguments  collected  by  their  Government  to 
oppose  it  —  documents  fabricated  to  prove  that 
Belgium  had  renounced  her  neutrality  herself, 
false  allegations  (in  vain  repudiated  four  times 
by  the  French  Government,  by  the  Commander- 
in-Chief,  by  the  Cardinal  and  the  Archbishop, 
and  by  the  Mayor  of  Rheims) — accusing  the 
French  of  using  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims  for 
military  purposes.  Lacking  arguments,  their 
system  of  defence  is  at  times  disconcerting  in 
its  naivete. 

"Is  it  possible,"  they  say,  "that  we  should 
be  accused  of  wishing  to  destroy  artistic  monu- 
ments, we,  the  people  above  all  others  who 
venerate  art,  in  whom  is  instilled  this  respect 
from  infancy,  who  have  the  greatest  number  of 
text  books  and  historical  collections  of  art  and 
the  longest  list  of  lectures   on   aesthetics?     Is  it 

34 


Pro  Aris 

possible  to  accuse  of  the  most  barbarous  actions 
the  most  humane,  the  most  affectionate,  and  the 
most  homely  of  peoples?" 

The  idea  never  strikes  them  that  Germany  is 
not  constituted  by  a  single  race  of  men,  and  that 
besides  the  obedient  masses  who  are  born  to 
obey,  to  respect  the  law — all  the  laws — there  is 
the  race  which  commands,  which  believes  itself 
above  all  laws,  and  which  makes  and  unmakes 
them  in  the  name  of  force  and  necessity  {Not  .  .  .) 
It  is  this  evil  marriage  of  idealism  and  German  \ 
force  which  leads  to  these  disasters.  The  ideal- 
ism proves  to  be  a  woman  ;  a  woman  captive, 
who  like  so  many  worthy  German  wives,  worships 
her  lord  and  master,  and  refuses  even  to  think 
that  he  could  ever  be  wrong. 

It  is,  however,  necessary  for  the  salvation  of 
Germany  that  she  should  one  day  countenance 
the  thought  of  divorce,  or  that  the  wife  should 
have  the  courage  to  make  her  voice  heard  in  the 
household.  I  know  already  several  who  are 
beginning  to  champion  the  rights  of  the  spirit 
against  force.  Many  a  German  voice  has  reached 
us  lately  in  letters  protesting  against  war  and 
deploring  with  us  the  injustices  which  we  deplore 
I  will  not  give  their  names  in  order  not  to  com- 
promise  them.     Not   very   long   ago    I    told  the 

35 


Above  the  Battle 

"  Fair " '  which  obstructed  Paris  that  it   was  not 

France.     I  say  to-day  to  the  German   Fair,  "  You 

are  not  the  true  Germany."     There  exists  another 

Germany  juster  and  more  humane,  whose  ambition 

is  not  to  dominate  the  world  by  force  and  guile, 

but  to  absorb  in  peace  everything  great  in   the 

thought  of  other  races,  and  in  return  to  reflect  the 

harmony.   With  that  Germany  there  is  no  dispute  ; 

we  are  not  her  enemies,  we  are  the  enemies  of  those 

who  have  almost  succeeded  in  making  the  world 

forget  that  she*  still  lives. 

October  1914. 

Edition  des  Cahiers  Vaudois  lo*  cahier,  1914  (Lausanne, 
C.  Tarin). 


'  Jean-Christophe,  part  v,  "  La  Foire  sur  la  Place."    In 
vol.  iii  of  the  English  version. — Trans. 


36 


Ill 

ABOVE  THE   BATTLE 

O  YOUNG  men  that  shed  your  blood  with  so 
generous  a  joy  for  the  starving  earth  !  O  heroism 
of  the  world !  What  a  harvest  for  destruction 
to  reap  under  this  splendid  summer  sun  !  Young 
men  of  all  nations,  brought  into  conflict  by  a 
common  ideal,  making  enemies  of  those  who 
should  be  brothers ;  all  of  you,  marching  to  your 
death,  are  dear  to  me.^  Slavs,  hastening  to  the 
aid  of  your  race  ;  Englishmen  fighting  for  honour 
and  right ;  intrepid  Belgians  who  dared  to  oppose 
the  Teutonic  colossus,  and  defend  against  him 
the  Thermopylae  of  the  West ;  Germans  fighting 
to  defend  the  philosophy  and  the  birthplace  of 
Kant  against  the  Cossack  avalanche  ;  and  you, 
above  all,  my  young  compatriots,  in  whom  the 
generation  of  heroes  of  the  Revolution  lives 
again ;    you,   who    for  years   have  confided   your 

'  At  the  very  hour  I  wrote  these  lines,  Charles  Peguy 
died. 

37 


Above  the  Battle 

dreams  to  me,  and  now,  on  the  verge  of  battle, 
bid  me  a  sublime  farewell. 

Those  years  of  scepticism  and  gay  frivolity  in 
which  we  in  France  grew  up  are  avenged  in  you  ; 
your  faith,  which  is  ours,  you  protect  from  their 
poisonous  influence ;  and  with  you  that  faith 
triumphs  on  the  battlefield.  "  A  war  of  revenge  " 
is  the  cry.  Yea !  revenge  indeed  ;  but  in  no 
spirit  of  Chauvinism.  The  revenge  of  faith 
against  all  the  egotisms  of  the  senses  and  of  the 
spirit — the  surrender  of  self  to  eternal  ideas. 

One  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  young  French 
novelists — Corporal  X. — writes  to  me  : — 

"  What  are  our  lives,  our  books,  compared  with  the 
magnitude  of  the  aim?  The  war  of  the  Revolution  against 
feudalism  is  beginning  anew.  The  armies  of  the  Republic 
will  secure  the  triumph  of  democracy  in  Europe  and  com- 
plete the  work  of  the  Convention.  We  are  fighting  for 
more  than  our  hearths  and  homes,  for  the  awakening  of 
liberty."  Another  of  these  young  people,  of  noble  spirit 
and  pure  heart,  who  will  be,  if  he  lives,  the  first  art  critic  of 
our  time — Lieutenant  X. :  — 

"  My  friend,  could  you  see  our  Army  as  I  do,  you  would 
be  thrilled  with  admiration  for  our  people,  for  this  noble 
race.  An  enthusiasm,  like  an  outburst  of  Marseillaise, 
\  thrills  them  ;  heroic,  earnest,  and  even  religious.  I  have 
jseen  the  three  divisions  of  my  army  corps  set  out;  the  men 
of  active  service  first,  young  men  of  twenty  marching  with 
firm  and  rapid  steps,  without  a  cry,  without  a  gesture,  like 
the  ephebi  of  old  calmly  going  to  sacrifice.     After  them 

38 


win     ICll 

We  are  // 

I  mailed  I  / 
a  phan-'i 


Above  the  Battle 

come  the  reserve,  men  of  twenty-five  to  thirty  years,  more 
stalwart  and  more  determined,  who  will  reinforce  the 
younger  men  and  make  them  irresistible.  We,  the  old 
men  of  forty,  the  fathers  of  families,  are  the  base  of  the 
choir ;  and  we  too,  I  assure  you,  set  out  confidently, 
resolute  and  unwavering.  I  have  no  wish  to  die,  but  I  can 
die  now  without  regret ;  for  I  have  lived  through  a  fortnight, 
which  would  be  cheap  at  the  price  of  death,  a  fortnight 
which  I  had  not  dared  to  ask  of  fate.  History  will  tell 
of  us,  for  we  are  opening  a  new  era  in  the  world, 
dispelling  the  nightmare  of  the  materialism  of  a 
Germany  and  of  armed  peace.  It  will  fade  like  a  phan- 
tom before  us  ;  the  world  seems  to  breathe  again.  Re- 
assure your  Viennese  friend,'  France  is  not  about  to  die  ; 
it  is  her  resurrection  which  we  see.  For  throughout  history 
— Bouvines,  the  Crusades,  Cathedrals,  the  Revolution — we 
remain  the  same,  the  knights-errant  of  the  world,  the 
paladins  of  God.  I  have  lived  long  enough  to  see  it  ful- 
filled ;  and  we  who  prophesied  it  twenty  years  ago  to 
unbelieving  ears  may  rejoice  to-day." 

O  my  friends,  may  nothing  mar  your  joy ! 
Whatever  fate  has  in  store,  you  have  risen  to 
the  pinnacle  of  earthly  life,  and  borne  your 
country  with  you.  And  you  will  be  victorious. 
Your  self-sacrifice,  your  courage,  your  whole- 
hearted faith  in  your  sacred  cause,  and  the  un- 
shaken certainty  that,  in  defending  your  invaded 

'  Alludes  to  a  Viennese  writer  who  had  told  me,  a  few 
weeks  before  the  declaration  of  war,  that  a  disaster  for 
France  would  be  a  disaster  for  the  liberal  thinkers  of 
Germany  too. 

39 


Above  the  Battle 

country,  you  are  defending  the  liberty  of  the 
world — all  this  assures  me  of  your  victory,  young 
armies  of  the  Marne  and  Meuse,  whose  names 
are  graven  henceforth  in  history  by  the  side  of 
your  elders  of  the  Great  Republic.  Yet  even 
had  misfortune  decreed  that  you  should  be  van- 
quished, and  with  you  France  itself,  no  people 
could  have  aspired  to  a  more  noble  death.  It 
would  have  crowned  the  life  of  that  great  people 
of  the  Crusades — it  would  have  been  their  supreme 
victory.  Conquerors  or  conquered,  living  or  dead, 
rejoice !  As  one  of  you  said  to  me,  embracing 
me  on  the  terrible  threshold:  "A  splendid  thing 
it  is  to  fight  with  clean  hands  and  ^  pure  heart, 
and  to  dispense  divine  justice  with  one's  life." 

You  are  doing  your  duty,  but  have  others  done 
theirs  ?  Let  us  be  bold  and  proclaim  the  truth 
to  the  elders  of  these  young  men,  to  their  moral 
guides,  to  their  religious  and  secular  leaders,  to 
the  Churches,  the  great  thinkers,  the  leaders  of 
socialism;  these  living  riches,  these  treasures  of 
heroism  you  held  in  your  hands ;  for  what  are 
you  squandering  them?  What  ideal  have  you 
held  up  to  the  devotion  of  these  youths  so  eager 
to  sacrifice  themselves  ?  Their  mutual  slaughter  ! 
A  European  war !  A  sacrilegious  conflict  which 
shows  a  maddened  Europe  ascending  its  funeral 

40 


Above  the  Battle 

pyre,   and,   like   Hercules,  destroying   itself  with 
its  own  hands  ! 

And  thus  the  three  greatest  nations  of  the  West 
the  guardians  of  civilisation,  rush  headlong  to 
their  ruin,  calling  in  to  their  aid  Cossacks,  Turks, 
Japanese,  Cingalese,  Soudanese,  Senegalese, 
Moroccans,  Egyptians,  Sikhs  and  Sepoys — bar- 
barians from  the  poles  and  those  from  the  equator, 
souls  and  bodies  of  all  colours.^  It  is  as  if  the 
four  quarters  of  the  Roman  Empire  at  the  time 
of  the  Tetrarchy  had  called  upon  the  barbarians 
of  the  whole  universe  to  devour  each  other. 

Is  our  civilisation  so  solid  that  you  do  not  fear 
to  shake  the'pillars  on  which  it  rests  ?  Can  you 
not  see  that  all  falls  in  upon  you  if  one  column 
be  shattered  ?  Could  you  not  have  learned  if 
not  to  love  one  another,  at  least  to  tolerate  the 
great  virtues  and  the  great  vices  of  the  other? 
Was  it  not  your  duty  to  attempt — youJaaMejie^er 
attempted  it  in  sincerity — to  settle  amicably  the 
questions  which  divided  you — the  problem  of 
peoples  annexed  against  their  will,  the  equitable 
division  of  productive  labour  and  the  riches  of  the 
world  ?  Must  the  stronger  for  ever  darken  the 
others  with  the  shadow  of  his  pride,  and  the 
others  for  ever  unite  to  dissipate  it  ?  Is  there  no 
'  See  note,  p,  193 
41 


Above  the  Battle 

end  to  this  bloody  and  puerile  sport,  in  which 
the  partners  change  about  from  century  to 
century — no  end,  until  the  whole  of  humanity  is 
exhausted  thereby? 

The  rulers  who  are  the  criminal  authors  of  these 
wars  dare  not  accept  the  responsibility  for  them. 
Each  one  by  underhand  means  seeks  to  lay  the 
blame  at  the  door  of  his  adversary.     The  peoples 
who   obey   them   submissively   resign   themselves 
with  the  thought  that  a  power  higher  than  man- 
kind has   ordered  it  thus.     Again  the  venerable 
^/(     refrain  is  heard  :     "  The  fatality  of  war  is  stronger 
than  our  wills."     The  old  refrain  of  the  herd  that 
makes  a   god  of  it^  feebleness   and   bows   down 
before  hirn.     Man  has  invented  fate,  that  he  may 
make   it    responsible    for    the    disorders    of    the 
universe,  those  disorders  which   it   was   his   duty 
*  to    regulate.     There    is    no    fatality !     The    only 
llfatality   is   what  we  desire;  and  more  often,  too, 
iVwhat   we   do   not   desire  enough.     Let  each  now 
j^ repeat   his   mea  culpa.     The   leaders  of  thought, 
the  Church,   the   Labour   Parties   did   not  desire 
war.  .  .  .  That  may  be  .  .  .  What  then  did  they 
do  to  prevent  it  ?     What  are  they  doing  to  put 
an   end  to  it?     They  are  stirring  up  the  bonfire, 
each  one  bringing  his  faggot. 

The   most   striking  feature   in   this   monstrous 
42 


Above  the  Battle 

epic,  the  fact  without  precedent,  is  the  unani- 
mity for  war  in  each  of  the  nations  engaged. 
An  epidemic  of  homicidal  fury,  which  started 
in  Tokio  ten  years  ago,  has  spread  like  a  wave 
and  overflowed  the  whole  world.  None  has 
resisted  it ;  no  high  thought  has  succeeded  in 
keeping  out  of  the  reach  of  this  scourge. 
A  sort  of  demoniacal  irony  broods  over  this 
conflict  of  the  nations,  from  which,  whatever 
its  result,  only  a  mutilated  Europe  can  emerge. 
For  it  is  not  racial  passion  alone  which  is  hurl- 
ing millions  of  men  blindly  one  against  another, 
so  that  not  even  neutral  countries  remain  free 
of  the  dangerous  thrill,  but  all  the  forces  of 
the  spirit,  of  reason,  of  faith,  of  poetry,  and  of 
science,  all  have  placed  themselves  at  the  disposal 
of  the  armies  in  every  state.  There  is  not  one 
amongst  the  leaders  of  thought  in  each  country 
who  does  not  proclaim  with  conviction  that  the 
cause  of  his  people  is  the  cause  of  God,  the  cause 
of  liberty  and  of  human  progress.  And  I,  too, 
proclaim  it. 

Strange  combats  are  being  waged  between 
metaphysicians,  poets,  historians — Eucken  against 
Bergson  ;  Hauptmann  against  Maeterlinck  ;  Rol- 
land  against  Hauptmann  ;  Wells  against  Bernard 
Shaw.     Kipling  and  D'Annunzio,.  Dehmel  and  de 

43 


Above  the  Battle 

R^gnier  sing  war  hymns,  Barr^s  and  Maeterlinck 
chant  paeans  of  hatred.  Between  a  fugue  of  Bach 
and  the  organ  which  thunders  Deutschland  iiber 
Alles,  Wundt,  the  aged  philosopher  of  eighty-two 
calls,  with  his  quavering  voice,  the  students  of 
Leipzig  to  the  holy  war.  And  each  nation  hurls 
at  the  other  the  name  "  Barbarians." 

The  academy  of  moral  science,  in  the  person 
of  its  president  Bergson,  declares  the  struggle 
undertaken  against  Germany  to  be  "  the  struggle 
of  civilisation  itself  against  barbarism."  German 
history  replies  with  the  voice  of  Karl  Lamprecht 
that  "  this  is  a  war  between  Germanism  and 
barbarism,  and  the  present  conflict  is  the  logical 
successor  of  those  against  the  Huns  and  Turks  in 
which  Germany  has  been  engaged  throughout  the 
ages"  Science,  following  history  into  the  lists, 
proclaims  through  E.  Perrier,  director  of  the 
Museum,  member  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences, 
that  the  Prussians  do  not  belong  to  the  Aryan 
race,  but  are  descended  in  direct  line  from  the 
men  of  the  Stone  Age  called  Allophyles,  and 
adds,  ^^  the  modern  skull,  resembling  by  its  base, 
the  best  index  of  the  strength  of  the  appetites,  the 
skull  of  the  fossilised  man  in  the  Chapelle-aiix- 
Saints  most  nearly,  is  none  other  than  that  of 
Prince  Bismarck  I " 

44 


Above  the  Battle 

But  the  two  moral  forces  whose  weakness  this 
contagious  war  shows  up  most  clearly  are  Chris- 
tianity and  Socialism.  These  rival  apostles  of 
religious  and  secular  internationalism  have  sud- 
denly developed  into  the  most  ardent  of 
nationalists.  Herve  is  eager  to  die  for  the 
standard  of  Austerlitz.  The  German  socialists, 
pure  trustees  of  the  pure  doctrine,  support  the 
bills  of  credit  for  the  war  in  the  Reichstag. 
They  place  themselves  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Prussian  minister,  who  uses  their  journals  to 
spread  abroad  his  lies,  even  into  the  barracks, 
and  sends  them  as  secret  agents  to  attempt  to 
pervert  Italy.  It  was  believed  for  the  honour  of 
their  cause  for  a  moment  that  two  or  three  of 
them  had  been  shot  rather  than  take  arms  against 
their  brothers.  Indignant,  they  protest ;  they  are 
all  marching  under  arms  !  Liebknecht,  forsooth, 
did  not  die  for  the  cause  of  socialism ;  ^  but 
Frank,  the  principal  champion  of  the  Franco- 
German  union,  fell  under  French  fire,  fighting  in 
the  cause  of  militarism.  These  men  have  courage 
to  die  for  the  faith  of  others ;  they  have  no 
courage  to  die  for  their  own. 

'  Liebknecht  has  since  gloriously  cleared  his  honour  ot 
the  compromises  of  his  party.  I  here  express  my  admira- 
tion of  his  attitude.    (R.  R.,  January  1915.) 

45 


Above  the  Battle 

As  for  the  representatives  of  the  Prince  of 
Peace — priests,  pastors,  bishops — they  go  into 
battle  in  their  thousands,  to  carry  out,  musket 
in  hand,  the  Divine  commands :  Thou  shalt  not 
kill,  and  Love  one  another.  Each  bulletin  of 
victory,  whether  it  be  German,  Austrian,  or 
Russian,  gives  thanks  to  the  great  captain  God 
— unser  alter  Gott,  notre  Dieu — as  William  II 
or  M.  Arthur  Meyer  says.  For  each  has  his 
own  God,  and  each  God,  whether  old  or  young, 
has  his  Levites  to  defend  him  and  destroy  the 
God  of  the  others. 

Twenty  thousand  French  priests  are  marching 
with  the  colours  ;  Jesuits  offer  their  services  to 
the  German  armies ;  cardinals  issue  warlike  man- 
dates ;  and  the  Serb  bishops  of  Hungary  incite 
their  faithful  flocks  to  fight  against  their  brothers 
in  Greater  Serbia.  The  newspapers  report,  with 
no  expressions  of  astonishment,  the  paradoxical 
scene  at  the  railway  station  at  Pisa,  where  the 
Italian  socialists  cheered  the  young  ordinands 
who  were  rejoining  their  regiments,  all  singing 
the  Marseillaise  together.  So  strong  the  cyclone 
that  sweeps  them  all  before  it ;  so  feeble  the 
men  it  encounters  on  its  career — and  I  am 
amongst  them.  .  .  . 

Come,  friends !  Let  us  make  a  stand  !  Can 
46 


Above  the  Battle 

we  not  resist  this  contagion,  whatever  its  nature 
and  virulence  be — whether  moral  epidemic  or 
cosmic  force?  Do  we  not  fight  against  the 
plague,  and  strive  even  to  repair  the  disaster 
caused  by  an  earthquake  ?  Or  must  we  bow 
ourselves  before  it,  agreeing  with  Luzzatti  in  his 
famous  article  ^  that  "  In  the  universal  disaster, 
the  nations  triumph"}  Shall  we  say  with  him 
that  it  is  good  and  reasonable  that  "the 
demon  of  international  war,  which  mows  down 
thousands  of  beings,  should  be  let  loose,"  so  that 
the  great  and  simple  truth,  "  love  of  our  country," 
be  understood  ?  It  would  seem,  then,  that  love 
of  our  country  can  flourish  only  through  the 
hatred  of  other  countries  and  the  massacre  of 
those  who  sacrifice  themselves  in  the  defence  of 
them.  There  is  in  this  theory  a  ferocious 
absurdity,  a  neronian  dilettantism  which  repels 
me  to  the  very  depths  of  my  being.  No !  Love 
of  my  country  does  not  demand  that  I  shall  hate 
and  slay  those  noble  and  faithful  souls  who  also 
love  theirs,  but  rather  that  I  should  honour  them 
and  seek  to  unite  with  them  for  our  common  good. 
You  Christians  will  say — and  in  this  you  seek 
consolation   for    having    betrayed    your   Master's 

'  Recently  published  in  the  Corriere  della  Sera  and  trans- 
lated by  XhQjotirnal  de  Geneve^  September  1914. 

47 


r 


Above  the  Battle 

orders — that   war  exalts   the  virtue  of  sacrifice. 
And    it    is    true    that    war    has    the     privilege 
of    bringing    out    the    genius     of    the    race    in 
the    most    commonplace    of   hearts.      It    purges 
away,   in   its   bath  of  blood,   all   dross   and   im- 
purity ;  it  tempers  the  metal  of  the  soul ;   of  a 
niggardly   peasant,  of  a   timorous   citizen   it    can 
make  a  hero  of  Valmy.     But  is  there  no  better 
employment  for  the  devotion  of  one  people  than 
the  devastation  of  another  ?     Can  we  not  sacrifice 
ourselves     without     sacrificing     our     neighbours 
also  ?     I    know   well,  poor    souls,   that    many   of 
you  are  more  willing  to  offer   your   blood   than 
to   spill   that   of  others.  .  .  .  But  what  a  funda- 
mental weakness  !    Confess,  then,  that  you  who  are 
undismayed  by  bullets  and  shrapnel  yet  tremble 
before  the  dictates  of  racial  frenzy — that  Moloch 
that  stands  higher  than  the  Church  of  Christ — the 
jealous  pride   of  race.     You  Christians  of  to-day 
would  not  have  refused  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods  of 
Imperial   Rome ;   you    are    not   capable    of  such 
courage!     Your   Pope   Pius   X    died   of  grief  to 
see  the  outbreak  of  this  war — so  it  is  said.     And 
not  without  reason.     The  Jupiter  of  the  Vatican 
who   hurled   thunderbolts   upon  those  inoffensive 
priests    who   believed   in   the   noble    chimera    of 
modernism — what  did  he  do  against  those  princes 
48 


Above  the  Battle 

and  those  criminal  rulers  whose  measureless 
ambition  has  given  the  world  over  to  misery 
and  death?  May  God  inspire  the  new  Pontiff 
who  has  just  ascended  the  throne  of  St.  Peter 
with  words  and  deeds  which  will  cleanse  the 
Church  from  the  stain  of  this  silence. 

As  for  you  socialists  who  on  both  sides  claim 
to  be  defending  liberty  against  tyranny — French 
liberty  against  the  Kaiser,  German  liberty  against 
the  Tsar,  is  it  a  question  of  defending  one  despot- 
ism against  another?     Unite  and  attack  both. 

There  was  no  reason  for  war  between  the 
Western  nations  ;  French,  English,  and  German 
we  are  all  brothers  and  do  not  hate  one  another. 
The  war-preaching  press  is  envenomed  by  a 
minority,  a  minority  vitally  interested  in  main- 
taining these  hatreds  ;  but  our  peoples,  I  know, 
ask  for  peace  and  liberty  and  that  alone.  The 
real  tragedy,  to  one  situated  in  the  midst  of 
the  conflict  and  able  to  look  down  from  the 
high  plateaus  of  Switzerland  into  all  the  hostile 
camps,  is  the  patent  fact  that  actually  each  of 
the  nations  is  being  menaced  in  its  dearest 
possessions — in  its  honour,  its  independence,  its 
life.  Who  has  brought  these  plagues  upon  them  ? 
brought  them  to  the  desperate  alternative  of  over- 
whelming their  adversary  or  dying  ?     None  other 

49  D 


Above  the  Battle 

than  their  governments,  and  above  all,  in  my 
opinion,  the  three  great  culprits,  the  three  rapacious 
eagles,  the  three  empires,  the  tortuous  policy  of  the 
house  of  Austria,  the  ravenous  greed  of  Tsarism, 
the  brutality  of  Prussia.  The  worst  enemy  of 
each  nation  is  not  without,  but  within  its  frontiers, 
and  none  has  the  courage  to  fight  against  it. 
It  is  the  monster  of  a  hundred  heads,  the  monster 
named  Imperialism,  the  will  to  pride  and  domina- 
tion, which  seeks  to  absorb  all,  or  subdue  all,  or 
break  all,  and  will  suffer  no  greatness  except  itself. 
For  the  Western  nations  Prussian  imperialism  is 
the  most  dangerous.  Its  hand  uplifted  in  menace 
against  Europe  has  forced  us  to  join  in  arms 
against  this  outcome  of  a  military  and  feudal  caste, 
which  is  the  curse  not  only  of  the  rest  of  the 
world  but  also  of  Germany  itself,  whose  thought 
it  has  subtly  poisoned.  We  must  destroy  this 
first :  but  not  this  alone  ;  the  Russian  autocracy  too 
will  have  its  turn.  Every  nation  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  has  an  imperialism  of  its  own,  and 
whether  it  be  military,  financial,  feudal,  republican, 
social,  or  intellectual,  it  is  always  the  octopus 
sucking  the  best  blood  of  Europe.  Let  the  free 
men  of  all  the  countries  of  Europe  when  this 
war  is  over  take  up  again  the  motto  of  Voltaire : 
^' Ecrasons  VinfAnie!" 

50 


Above  the  Battle 

When  the  war  is  over !  The  evil  is  done  now, 
the  torrent  let  loose  and  we  cannot  force  it  back 
into  its  channel  unaided.  Moreover  crimes  have 
been  committed  against  right,  attacks  on  the 
liberties  of  peoples  and  on  the  sacred  treasuries  of 
thought,  which  must  and  will  be  expiated. 
Europe  cannot  pass  over  unheeded  the  violenc 
done  to  the  noble  Belgian  people,  the  devastation 
of  Malines  and  Louvain,  sacked  by  modern  Tillys. 
.  .  .  But  in  the  name  of  heaven  let  not  these  crimes 
be  expiated  by  similar  crimes !  Let  not  the 
hideous  words  "  vengeance  "  and  "  retaliation " 
be  heard  ;  for  a  great  nation  does  not  revenge 
itself,  it  re-establishes  justice.  But  let  those  in 
whose  hands  lies  the  execution  of  justice  show 
themselves  worthy  of  her  to  the  end. 

It  is  our  duty  to  keep  this  before  them  ;  nor 
will  we  be  passive  and  wait  for  the  fury  of 
this  conflict  to  spend  itself.  Such  conduct 
would  be  unworthy  of  us  who  have  such  a  task 
before  us. 

Our  first  duty,  then,  all  over  the  world,  is  to 
insist  on  the  formation  of  a  moral  High  Court, 
a  tribunal  of  consciences,  to  watch  and  pass 
impartial  judgment  on  any  violations  of  the 
laws  of  nations.  And  since  committees  of 
inquiry  formed   by  belligerents  themselves  would 

51 


Above  the   Battle 

be  always  suspect,  the  neutral  countries  of  the 
old  and  new  world  must  take  the  initiative,  and 
form  a  tribunal  such  as  was  suggested  by  Mr. 
Prenant,^  professor  of  medicine  at  Paris,  and 
taken  up  enthusiastically  by  M.  Paul  Seippel 
in  the  Journal  de  Geneve.^ 

"  They  should  produce  men  of  some  worldly 
authority,  and  of  proved  civic  morality  to  act 
as  a  commission  of  inquiry,  and  to  follow  the 
armies  at  a  little  distance.  Such  an  organisa- 
tion would  complete  and  solidify  the  Hague 
Court,  and  prepare  indisputable  documents  for 
the  necessary  work  of  justice.  .  .  ." 

The  neutral  countries  are  too  much  effaced. 
Confronted  by  unbridled  force  they  are  inclined 
to  believe  that  opinion  is  defeated  in  advance, 
and  the  majority  of  thinkers  in  all  countries 
share  their  pessimism.  There  is  a  lack  of 
courage  here  as  well  as  of  clear  thinking.  For 
just  at  this  time  the  power  of  opinion  is  immense. 
The  most  despotic  of  governments,  even  though 
marching  to  victory,  trembles  before  public 
'  opinion  and  seeks  to  court  it.  Nothing  shows 
this  more  clearly  than  the  efforts  of  both  parties 

'  Le  Temps,  September  4,  19 14. 

'  Issues  of  September  16  and  17,  191 4  :  Im  Guerre  et  le 
Droit. 

52 


Above  the  Battle 

engaged   in   war,   of  their   ministers,  chancellors, 
sovereigns,  of  the  Kaiser  himself  turned  journalist, 
to  justify   their   own    crimes,  and   denounce  the 
crimes    of   their    adversary   at   the   invisible   tri- 
bunal  of  humanity.     Let   this   invisible   tribunal 
be   seen   at   last,  let   us  venture  to  constitute  it. 
Ye  know  not  your  moral  power,  O  ye  of  little   1 1 
faith !     If  there   be  a  risk,  will  you  not   take  it 
for  the  honour  of  humanity  ?     What  is  the  value  1/ 
of  life  when   you   have  saved  it  at  the  price  of  tt 
all  that  is  worth  living  for?  .  .  . 

Ef  propter  vitain^  vivendi  perdere  causas.  .  ,  , 
But  for  us,  the  artists  and  poets,  priests  and 
thinkers  of  all  countries,  remains  another  task. 
Even  in  time  of  war  it  remains  a  crime  for  finer 
spirits  to  compromise  the  integrity  of  their 
thought ;  it  is  shameful  to  see  it  serving  the 
passion  of  a  puerile,  monstrous  policy  of  race, 
a  policy  scientifically  absurd — since  no  country 
possesses  a  race  wholly  pure.  Such  a  policy, 
as  Renan  points  out  in  his  beautiful  letter  to 
Strauss,!  ''can  only  lead  to  zoological  wars^  wars 
of  extermination,  similar  to  those  in  which  various 
species  of  rodents  and  carnivorojis  beasts  fight 
for    their   existence.     This    would  be   the  end  of 

'  Letter  dated  September  15,  1871,  published  in  Reforme 
intellectuelle  et  morale. 

53 


Above  the  Battle 

that  fertile  admixture  called  humanity^  composed 
as  it  is  of  such  various  necessary  elements." 
Humanity  is  a  symphony  of  great  collective 
souls ;  and  he  who  understands  and  loves  it  only 
by  destroying  a  part  of  those  elements,  proves 
himself  a  barbarian  and  shows  his  idea  of 
harmony  to  be  no  better  than  the  idea  of  order 
another  held  in  Warsaw. 

For  the  finer  spirits  of  Europe  there  are  two 
dwelling-places :  our  earthly  fatherland,  and  that 
other  City  of  God.  Of  the  one  we  are  the 
guests,  of  the  other  the  builders.  To  the  one 
let  us  give  our  lives  and  our  faithful  hearts ; 
but  neither  family,  friend,  nor  fatherland,  nor 
aught  that  we  love  has  power  over  the  spirit. 
The  spirit  is  the  light.  It  is  our  duty  to  lift  it 
above  tempests,  and  thrust  aside  the  clouds 
which  threaten  to  obscure  it ;  to  build  higher 
and  stronger,  dominating  the  injustice  and  hatred 
of  nations,  the  walls  of  that  city  wherein  the 
souls  of  the  whole  world  may  assemble. 

I  feel  here  how  the  generous  heart  of  Switzer- 
land is  thrilled,  divided  between  sympathies  for 
the  various  nations,  and  lamenting  that  it 
cannot  choose  freely  between  them,  nor  even 
express  them.  I  understand  its  torment ;  but 
I  know  that  this  is  salutary.     I  hope  it  will  rise 

54 


Above  the  Battle 

thence  to  that  superior  joy  of  a  harmony  of 
races,  which  may  be  a  noble  example  for  the 
rest  of  Europe.  It  is  the  duty  of  Switzerland 
now  to  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  tempest,  like 
an  island  of  justice  and  of  peace,  where,  as  in 
the  great  monasteries  of  the  early  Middle  Ages, 
the  spirit  may  find  a  refuge  from  unbridled 
force ;  where  the  fainting  swimmers  of  all  nations, 
those  who  are  weary  of  hatred,  may  persist,  in 
spite  of  all  the  wrongs  they  have  seen  and 
suffered,  in  loving  all  men  as  their  brothers. 

I  know  that  such  thoughts  have  little  chance 
of  being  heard  to-day.  Young  Europe,  burning 
with  the  fever  of  battle,  will  smile  with  disdain 
and  show  its  fangs  like  a  young  wolf.  But  when 
the  access  of  fever  has  spent  itself,  wounded 
and  less  proud  of  its  voracious  heroism,  it  will 
come  to  itself  again. 

Moreover  I  do  not  speak  to  convince  it.  I 
speak  but  to  solace  my  conscience  .  .  .  and  I 
know  that  at  the  same  time  1  shall  solace  the 
hearts  of  thousands  of  others  who,  in  all  countries, 
cannot  or  dare  not  speak  themselves. 
Journal  de  Geneve^  September  15,  19 14. 


55 


IV 

THE   LESSER  OF  TWO  EVILS: 
PANGERMANISM,    PANSLAVISM 

I  do  not  hold  the  doctrine  expounded  by  a 
certain  saintly  king,  that  it  is  useless  to  enter 
into  discussion  with  heretics — and  we  regard  all 
those  who  do  not  agree  with  our  opinions  as 
heretics  nowadays — but  that  it  is  sufficient  to 
brain  them.  I  feel  the  need  of  understanding 
my  enemy's  reasons.  I  am  unwilling  to  believe  in 
unfairness.  Doubtless  my  enemy  is  as  passion- 
ately sincere  as  I  am.  Why,  then,  should  we 
not  attempt  to  understand  each  other?  For  such 
an  understanding,  though  it  will  not  suppress 
the  conflict,  may  perhaps  suppress  our  hatred ; 
and  it  is  hatred  more  than  anything  else  that  I 
regard  as  my  enemy. 

However  much  I  may  feel  that  the  motives 
actuating  the  various  combatants  are  not  equally 
worthy,  I  have  yet  come  to  the  conviction,  after 

56 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

reading  the  papers  and  letters  which,  during 
the  last  two  months,  have  arrived  in  Geneva 
from  every  country,  that  the  ardour  of  patriotic 
faith  is  everywhere  the  same,  and  that  each  of 
the  nations  engaged  in  this  mighty  struggle 
believes  itself  to  be  the  champion  of  liberty 
against  barbarism.  But  liberty  and  barbarism 
do   not  mean  the  same  thing  to  both  sides. 

Barbarous  despotism,  the  worst  enemy  to 
liberty,  is  exemplified  for  us  Frenchmen,  English- 
men, men  of  the  West,  in  Prussian  Imperialism  ; 
and  I  venture  to  think  that  the  register  of  its 
methods  is  plainly  set  forth  [in  the  devastated 
route  from  Li^ge  to  Senlis,  passing  by  way  of 
Louvain,  Malines,  and  Rheims.  For  Germany, 
the  monster  ("  Ungeheuer^'  as  the  aged  Wundt 
calls  it)  which  threatens  civilisation  is  Russia, 
and  the  bitterest  reproach  which  the  Germans 
hurl  against  France  is  our  alliance  with  the 
Empire  of  the  Tsar.  I  have  received  many 
letters  reproaching  us  with  this.  In  the  Munich 
review,  Das  Forum,  I  read  only  yesterday  an 
article  by  Wilhelm  Herzog  challenging  me  to 
explain  my  position  with  regard  to  Russia. 
Let  us  consider  the  question,  then.  I  ask 
nothing  better.  By  this  means  we  shall  be  able 
to  weigh   the   German   danger  and   the   Russian 

57 


Above  the  Battle 

danger  in   the    balance,    and    thus   show   which 
of  the  two  seems  the  more  threatening  to  us. 

Of  the  actual  events  of  the  present  war 
between  Germany  and  Russia  I  will  say  noth- 
ing. All  the  information  we  have  comes  from 
Russian  or  German  sources,  equally  unreliable. 
To  judge  by  them  it  would  appear  that  the 
same  ferocity  exists  in  both  camps.  The 
Germans  in  Kalish  were  worthy  companions  of 
the  Cossacks  in  Grodtken  and  Zorothowo. — It 
is  of  the  German  spirit  and  of  the  Russian  spirit 
that  I  wish  to  speak  here,  for  this  is  the  im- 
portant thing  and  of  this  we  have  more 
definite  knowledge. 

You,  my  German  friends — for  those  of  you 
who  were  my  friends  in  the  past  remain  my 
friends  in  spite  of  fanatical  demands  from  both 
sides  that  we  should  break  off  all  relations — 
know  how  much  I  love  the  Germany  of  the 
past,  and  all  that  I  owe  to  it.  Not  less  than 
you,  yourselves,  I  am  the  son  of  Beethoven, 
of  Leibnitz,  and  of  Goethe.  But  what  do  I  owe 
to  the  Germany  of  to-day,  or  what  does  Europe 
owe  to  it?  Wliat  art  have  you  produced  since 
the  monumental  work  of  Wagner,  which  marks 
the  end  of  an  epoch  and  belongs  to  the  past  ? 
What  new  and   original   thought   can  you  boast 

58 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

of  since  the  death  of  Nietzsche,  whose  magnifi- 
cent madness  has  left  its  traces  upon  you  though 
we  are  unscathed  by  it  ?  Where  have  we  sought 
our  spiritual  food  for  the  last  forty  years,  when 
our  own  fertile  soil  no  longer  yielded  sufficient 
for  our  needs?  Who  but  the  Russian  writers 
have  been  our  guides  ?  What  German  writer  can 
you  set  up  against  Tolstoi'  and  Dostoievsky,  those 
giants  of  poetic  genius  and  moral  grandeur? 
These  are  the  men  who  have  moulded  my  soul, 
and  in  defending  the  nation  from  which  they 
sprang,  I  am  but  paying  a  debt  which  I  owe 
to  that  nation  as  well  as  to  themselves.  Even 
if  the  contempt  for  Prussian  Imperialism  were 
not  innate  to  me  as  a  Latin,  I  should  have 
learned  it  from  them.  Twenty  years  ago  Tolstoi 
expressed  his  contempt  for  your  Kaiser.  In 
music,  Germany,  so  proud  of  its  ancient  glory, 
has  only  the  successors  of  Wagner,  neurotic 
jugglers  with  orchestral  effects,  like  Richard 
Strauss,  but  not  a  single  sober  and  virile  work 
of  the  quality  of  Boris  Godunov.  No  German 
musician  has  opened  up  new  roads.  A  single 
page  of  Moussorgsky  or  Strawinsky  shows  more 
originality,  more  potential  greatness  than  the 
complete  scores  of  Mahler  and  Reger.  In  our 
Universities,  in  our^  hospitals  and  Pasteur  Insti- 

59 


Above  the  Battle 

tutes,  Russian  students  and  scholars  work  side 
by  side  with  our  own,  and  Russian  revolution- 
aries who  have  taken  refuge  in  Paris  mingle 
their  aspirations  with  those  of  our  socialists. 

The  crimes  of  Tsarism  are  continually  on 
your  lips.  We,  too,  denounce  these  crimes  ;  for 
Tsarism  is  our  enemy,  and  what  I  wrote  but 
recently,  I  repeat  now.  But  it  is  likewise  the 
enemy  of  the  intellectual  elite  of  Russia  itself. 
This  cannot  be  said  of  your  intellectuals,  who  are 
so  slavishly  obedient  to  the  commands  of  your 
rulers.  A  few  days  ago  I  received  that  amazing 
"  Address  to  the  Civilised  Nations  "  with  which  the 
Imperial  army- corps  of  German  intellectuals 
bombarded  Europe ;  meanwhile  the  army-corps 
of  German  Commerce  {Bureau  des  Deutschen 
Handelstages)  shelled  the  markets  of  the  world 
with  circulars  ornamented  by  the  figure  of 
Mercury,  the  god  of  lies.  This  mobilisation  of 
the  forces  of  the  pen  and  of  the  caduceus,  with 
which  in  good  truth  no  other  country  could 
compete,  has  given  us  additional  reason  to  fear 
the  Empire's  powers  of  organisation,  no  reason  to 
respect  it  more.  "Civilised  Nations"  read,  not 
without  amazement,  that  Address,  the  truth  of 
which  was  vouched  for  by  the  names  of  the  most 
distinguished  scientists,  thinkers,  and  artists  in 
60 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

Germany  —  by  Behring,  Ostwald,  Roentgen, 
Eucken,  Haeckel,  Wundt,  Dehmel,  Hauptmann, 
Sudermann,  Hildebrand,  Klinger,  Liebermann, 
Humperdinck,  Weingartner,  etc. — by  painters  and 
philosophers,  musicians,  theologians,  chemists, 
economists,  poets,  and  the  professors  of  twenty 
universities.  They  learned,  not  without  surprise, 
that  "it  is  not  true  that  Germany  provoked  the 
war, — it  is  not  true  that  Germany  criminally 
violated  the  neutrality  of  Belgium, — it  is  not  true 
that  Germany  used  violence  against  the  life  or 
the  belongings  of  a  single  Belgian  citizen  with- 
out being  forced  to  do  so, — it  is  not  true  that 
Germany  destroyed  Louvain  "  (destroyed  it  ?  no 
indeed,   she    saved    it !), — "  it     is  not    true    that 

Germany "     It  is  not  true  that  day  is  day  and 

night  is  night !  I  confess  that  I  could  not  read 
to  the  end  without  that  feeling  of  embarrassment 
which  I  felt  as  a  child,  when  I  heard  an  elderly 
man  whom  I  respected  make  false  statements. 
I  turned  aside  my  eyes  and  blushed  for  him. 
Thank  God  !  the  crimes  of  Tsarism  never  found  I 
a  defender  amongst  the  great  artists,  scholars,  and  j 
thinkers  of  Russia.  Are  not  Kropotkin,  Tolstoi', 
Dostoievski,  and  Gorki,  the  greatest  names  in 
its  literature,  the  very  ones  who  denounced  its 
crimes ! 

6l 


Above  the  Battle 

Russian  domination  has  often  been  cruelly 
heavy  for  the  smaller  nationalities  which  it  has 
swallowed  up.  But  how  comes  it  then,  Germans, 
that  the  Poles  prefer  it  to  yours  ?  Do  you  imagine 
that  Europe  is  ignorant  of  the  monstrous  way  in 
which  you  are  exterminating  the  Polish  race? 
Do  you  think  that  we  do  not  receive  the  con- 
fidences of  those  Baltic  nations  who,  having  to 
choose  between  two  conquerors,  prefer  the 
Russian  because  he  is  the  more  humane?  Read 
the  following  letter  which  I  received  but  lately 
from  a  Lett,  who,  though  he  has  suffered  severely 
at  the  hands  of  the  Russians,  yet  sides  ardently 
with  them  against  you.  My  German  friends,  you 
are  either  strangely  ignorant  of  the  state  of  mind 
of  the  nations  which  surround  you,  or  you  think 
us  extremely  simple  and  ill-informed.  Your 
imperialism,  beneath  its  veneer  of  civilisation, 
seems  to  me  no  less  ferocious  than  Tsarism 
towards  everything  that  ventures  to  oppose  its 
avaricious  desire  for  universal  dominion.  But 
whereas  immense  and  mysterious  Russia,  over- 
flowing with  young  and  revolutionary  forces,  gives 
us  hope  of  a  coming  renewal,  your  Germany  bases 
its  systematic  harshness  on  a  culture  too  anti- 
quated and  scholastic  to  allow  of  any  hope  of 
amendment.     If  I  had  any  such  hope — and  I  once 

62 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

had  it,  my  friends — you  have  taken  great  pains  to 
rob  me  of  it,  you,  artists  and  scholars,  who  drew 
up  that  address  in  which  you  pride  yourselves  on 
your  complete  unity  with  Prussian  Imperialism. 
Know  once  for  all  that  there  is  nothing  more  over- 
whelming for  us  Latins,  nothing  more  difficult  to 
endure,  than  your  militarisation  of  the  intellect. 
If,  by  some  awful  fate,  this  spirit  were  triumphant, 
I  should  leave  Europe  for  ever.  To  live  here 
would  be  intolerable  to  me. 

Here,  then,  are  some  extracts  from  the  in- 
teresting letter  which  I  have  received  from  a 
representative  of  those  little  nationalities  which 
are  being  disputed  between  Russia  and  Germany. 
They  desire  to  maintain  their  independence,  but 
find  themselves  obliged  to  choose  between  these 
two  nations,  and  choose  Russia.  It  is  good  to 
hear  them  speak.  We  are  too  much  inclined  to 
listen  only  to  the  Great  Powers  who  are  now  at 
war.  Let  us  think  of  those  little  barques  which 
the  great  vessels  draw  in  their  wake.  Let  us 
share  for  a  moment  the  agony  with  which  these 
little  nationalities,  forgotten  by  the  egotism  of 
Europe,  await  the  final  issue  of  a  struggle  which 
will  decide  their  fate.  Let  England  and  France 
heed  those  beseeching  eyes  which  are  turned 
towards  them ;  let  young  Russia,  herself  so  eager 

63 


Above  the  Battle 

for  liberty,  help   generously   to   shed  its  benefits 
abroad. 


October  lo,  191 4. 


* 
*   * 


LETTER  TO   ROMAIN   ROLLAND 

y:)th  September,  19 14. 

Sir, — I  desire  to  thank  you  for  your  article, 
"Above  the  Battle."  .  .  .  Although  by  my  edu- 
cation I  am  more  akin  to  the  civilisations  of 
Germany  and  Russia  than  to  the  civilisation 
of  France,  yet  I  respect  the  French  spirit  more, 
for  I  am  convinced,  more  than  ever  to-day,  that 
it  will  furnish  the  greatly  needed  solution  of  the 
problems  of  national  rights  and  liberty. 

In  your  article  you  quote  the  words  of  one  of 
your  friends,  a  soldier  and  a  writer,  who  says 
that  the  French  are  fighting  not  only  to  defend 
their  own  country  but  to  save  the  liberty  of 
the  world.  You  can  hardly  imagine  how  such 
words  re-echo  in  the  hearts  of  oppressed  nations, 
what  streams  of  sympathy  are  to-day  converging 
from  all  corners  of  Europe  upon  France,  what 
hopes  depend  upon  your  victory. 

And  yet  many  doubts  have  been  expressed 
with  regard  to  these  French  and  English  asser- 
tions   because    both    nations    have  allied   them- 

64 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

selves  with  Russia,  whose  poHcy  is  contrary  to 
the  ideas  of  right  and  liberty ;  and  Germany 
herself  maintains  that  it  is  precisely  those  ideas 
for  which  she  is  fighting  against  Russia. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  discover  what 
German  writers  and  professors  really  mean  when 
they  speak  of  a  Holy  War  against  Russia.  Do 
they  wish  to  assist  Russian  revolutionaries  to 
dethrone  the  Tsar? — Every  revolutionary  party 
would  refuse  indignantly  to  accept  assistance 
from  Prussian  militarism.  Do  they  wish  to  set 
free  the  neighbouring  countries,  such  as  Poland, 
which  are  oppressed  by  Russia,  by  incorporating 
them  with  the  German  Empire? — It  is  well 
known  that  the  Poles  who  are  German  subjects 
have  suffered  much  more  ignoble  treatment  than 
the  Russian  Poles,  though  even  they  have  every 
reason  to  complain. 

The  Baltic  provinces  of  Russia  alone  remain,  and 
here  the  Germans  have  for  centuries  had  their 
pioneers  among  the  large  landowners  and  the 
merchants  in  the  bigger  towns.  These,  no  doubt, 
Russian  subjects  but  of  German  nationality,  would 
welcome  the  German  armies  with  enthusiasm. 
But  they  form  only  a  caste  of  nobles  and  of  the 
wealthy  middle-classes,  numbering  at  most  a  few 
thousands,  whereas  the  bulk  of  the  population,  the 

65  E 


Above  the  Battle 

Lettish  and  Esthonian  nations,  would  regard  the 
absorption  of  these  provinces  into  Germany  as  the 
worst  of  calamities.  We  know  well  what  German 
domination  means.  I  am  a  Lett  and  can  speak 
with  authority,  for  I  know  the  deepest  feelings 
and  hopes  of  my  own  countrymen. 

The  Letts  are  akin  to  the  Lithuanians.  They 
inhabit  Courland,  Livonia,  and  a  part  of  the 
province  of  Vitebsk.  Their  intellectual  centre  is 
Riga.  There  are  colonies  of  them  in  all  the 
principal  towns  of  Russia.  Last  year  the  Annales 
des  Nationalites  of  Paris  devoted  two  numbers  to 
these  two  sister  nations.  Owing  to  the  geographi- 
cal situation  of  their  country,  which  is  only  too 
desirable,  they  had  the  misfortune  to  be  under 
the  yoke  of  the  Germans,  before  they  were  under 
the  yoke  of  the  Russians.  To  understand  how 
much  they  suffered  under  the  former  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  say  that,  in  comparison  with  the 
Germans,  we  think  of  the  Russians  as  our  libera- 
tors. By  sheer  force  the  Germans  kept  us  for 
centuries  in  a  state  equivalent  to  slavery.  Only 
fifty  years  ago  the  Russian  Government  set  us 
free  from  this  bondage  ;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
it  committed  the  grave  injustice  of  leaving  all 
our  land  in  the  hands  of  German  proprietors. 
Nevertheless,   within    the    last   twenty   or   thirty 

66  ^ 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

years,  we  have  succeeded  in  reclaiming  from  the 
Germans  a  part  at  least  of  our  land,  and  in 
reaching  a  considerable  level  of  culture,  thanks 
to  which,  we  are  considered,  together  with  the 
Esthonians  and  the  Finns,  as  the  most  advanced 
people  in  the  Russian  Empire. 

German  papers  often  accuse  us  of  ingratitude, 
and  reproach  us  with  our  lack  of  appreciation  of 
the  advantages  of  the  culture  which  they  boast  of 
having  brought  us.  We  listen  to  such  accusa- 
tions with  a  bitter  smile,  and  in  writing  the  word 
Kulturtrdger  (bearer  of  civilisation)  add  an  ex- 
clamation mark  afterwards,  for  the  behaviour  of 
the  Germans  has  brought  the  expression  into 
contempt.  We  have  acquired  our  culture  in  spite 
of  their  opposition,  and  against  their  will.  Even 
to-day  it  is  the  German  representatives  in  the 
Russian  Duma  who  veto  the  occasional  suggestions 
on  the  part  of  the  Government  to  make  reforms  in 
the  Baltic  provinces.  These  provinces  are  ad- 
ministered in  a  manner  that  differs,  and  differs 
for  the  worse,  from  that  adopted  in  the  other 
provinces  of  Russia.  We  still  submit  to  laws 
and  regulations  which  no  longer  exist  in  other 
parts  of  Europe — laws  which  were  made  in  the 
feudal  ages  and  have  been  rigorously  maintained 
amongst   us,  thanks  to   the   exertions  of  the  big 

(>7 


Above  the  Battle 

German  landowners,  who  are  always  sure  of  a 
hearing  at  the  Imperial  Court  of  St.  Petersburg. 
Formerly,  when  we  were  striving  in  vain  to 
reconcile  our  sympathy  and  admiration  for 
German  thought  and  art  with  the  narrow,  haughty, 
and  cruel  spirit  of  its  representatives  amongst 
us,  we  explained  it  all  by  saying  that  the 
Germans  in  our  provinces  were  of  a  peculiar  type, 
and  had  little  in  common  with  other  Germans. 
But  the  crimes  of  which  they  have  been  guilty 
in  Belgium  and  in  France  show  us  our  mistake. 
Germans  are  the  same  everywhere  in  the  work 
of  conquest  and  domination — wholly  without 
humanitarian  scruples.  In  Germany,  as  in  Russia, 
there  are  two  distinct  tendencies — the  one, 
provoked  by  the  ideas  of  Pangermanism  and 
Panslavism,  is  to  seek  national  glory  on  the  field 
of  battle  and  in  the  oppression  of  the  personalities 
of  other  nations  ;  the  other  is  to  achieve  the 
same  end  in  the  peaceful  realms  of  thought  and 
artistic  creation.  Just  as  the  culture  of  which 
Goethe  was  typical  has  nothing  in  common  with 
Prussian  militarism,  so  Tolstoi  may  be  considered 
as  the  representative  of  that  other  Russia  which 
is  so  different  from  the  one  represented  by  the 
Russian  Government  of  to-day.  Certainly  the 
gulf  between  these  two  tendencies  is  less  deep 

68 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

in  Germany  than  in  Russia,  and  this  is  due  to 
the  immense  size  of  Russia,  which  contains  vast 
numbers  of  poor  and  ignorant  human  beings  whom 
the  Russian  Government  oppresses  with  the  utmost 
brutality.  But  it  is  entirely  unjust  always  to  allude  to 
the  Russians  as  barbarians  ;  and  the  Germans  who 
invariably  make  use  of  this  word  when  they  speak 
of  Russia  have  less  right  than  any  one  to  do  so. 
No  one  who  knows  the  intellectual  world  of 
Germany  and  Russia  will  venture  to  say  that  the 
former  is  much  superior  to  the  latter — they  are 
simply  different.  And  I  would  add  that  the  one 
fact  which  makes  us  feel  more  drawn  to  the  intel- 
lectual world  of  Russia  than  to  that  of  the  Germany 
of  to-day^  is  that  it  would  never  be  capable  of  justi- 
fying and  approving  the  brutal  conduct  of  its 
Government^  as  the  German  intellectuals  are  doing 
now.  It  has  often  been  constrained  to  keep  silence^  but 
it  has  never  raised  its  voice  in  defence  of  a  guilty 
Government. 

Let  not  my  testimony  in  favour  of  the  Russians 
lead  any  one  to  believe  that  I  am  idealising  them, 
or  that  my  people,  the  Letts,  have  enjoyed  any 
special  privileges  under  their  government.  On 
the  contrary  !  I  have  suffered  more  at  their  hands 
than  at  the  hands  of  the  Germans,  and  my  nation 
knows  only  too  well   how   heavy  is   the  hand  of 

69 


Above  the  Battle 

the  Russian  Government,  and  how  suffocating  the 
atmosphere  of  Panslavism.  In  1906  it  was  the 
Lett  peasant  and  intellectual  classes  who  enjoyed 
most  frequently  the  privilege  of  being  flogged  ; 
it  was  amongst  these  classes  that  the  greatest 
number  of  unfortunates  were  shot,  hanged,  or 
imprisoned  for  life.  And  since  that  dreadful  year 
there  are  to  be  found  in  all  the  principal  towns 
of  Western  Europe  colonies  of  Letts,  formed  of 
refugees  who  succeeded  in  escaping  from  the  atro- 
cities of  the  punitive  expedition  sent  by  the 
Russian  Government  against  my  country.  But 
this  fact  is  significant :  at  the  head  of  the  majority 
of  the  military  bands  commissioned  to  punish  the 
country  were  German  officers  who  had  asked  for 
this  employment^  and  showed  so  great  a  zeal  in 
shooting  down  men  and  setting  fire  to  houses^  that 
they  went  even  beyond  the  intentions  of  the  Russian 
Government.  In  those  days  the  places  might  count 
themselves  fortunate  which  were  visited  by  dragoons 
commanded  by  officers  of  Russian  nationality ;  for 
where  Russian  officers  would  have  ordered  the 
knout,  German  officers  habitually  inflicted  a  sentence 
of  death. 

If  my  nation  had  ever  to  choose  between  a 
German  and  a  Russian  government  it  would  choose 
the  latter  as  the  lesser  of  two  evils.     I  see  in  the 

70 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

Lett  newspapers  that  the  reservists  of  my  country 
left  for  the  war  with  enthusiasm.  I  do  not 
imagine  that  this  enthusiasm  is  due  to  the  thought 
that  they  are  fighting  for  the  glory  of  a  nation 
which,  by  every  means  in  its  power,  seeks  to 
hinder  our  national  development,  by  forbidding 
instruction  in  our  native  tongue  in  primary 
schools,  by  attempting  to  colonise  our  land  with 
Russian  peasants,  by  compelling  our  own  people 
to  emigrate  to  Siberia  and  America,  by  excluding 
all  Letts  from  any  share  in  Government  employ- 
ment, etc.  This  enthusiasm  nevertheless  exists, 
and  it  is  because  the  war  is  being  waged  against 
Germany,  and  because  the  Letts  know  that  the 
Germans  have  long  been  aiming  at  the  possession 
of  the  Baltic  provinces.  To  prevent  this  we  are 
prepared  to  make  any  sacrifice.  We,  who  love 
our  national  civilisation  and  know  well  what 
Panslavism  and  Pangermanism  mean,  are  of 
opinion  that,  of  the  two,  Panslavism  is  less 
fatal  to  the  civilisations  of  small  nations. 
This  is  really  due  to'  the  character  of  the  two 
races. 

German  oppression  is  always  systematic,  hence 
always  efficacious.  In  additioji  to  this,  their  arro- 
gant contempt  for  everything  that  is  not  themselves, 
the  calm  and  calculated  method  in  which  they  carry 

n 


Above  the  Battle 

out    their   system    of  persecution     wherever    they 
dominate^  all  this  makes  thetn  intolerable. 

Russians  are  less  logical  by  nature ;  their  minds 
are  not  so  regulated  and  they  are  more  inclined  to 
obey  the  dictates  of  their  hearts ;  for  this  reason 
they  are  less  to  be  feared  as  oppressors.  The  blows 
which  they  strike  are  often  extremely  cruel  and 
painful^  but  they  can  repent  from  time  to  time. 
Their  manners  are  rougher  and  more  brutal  (I 
speak  here  more  especially  of  civil  and  military 
officials),  but  on  the  whole  they  are  more  humafie 
than  the  Germans,  who  often  conceal  feelings  of 
fierce  savagery  under  the  mask  of  perfect  courtesy. 
In  the  year  igo6,  when  there  were  executions  in 
Russia  on  a  large  scale,  there  were  many  cases  of 
suicide  amongst  Russian  officers  who  could  not 
reconcile  their  profession  of  soldiers  with  that  of 
a  hangman.  The  officers  of  German  nationality,  on 
the  other  hand,  carried  out  their  orders  with 
enfoyment. 

Nevertheless,  Russian  domination,  though  pre- 
ferable to  German,  is  still  very  oppressive.  I 
hear  the  news  of  Russian  victories  with  mingled 
feelings,  rejoicing  in  so  far  as  they  are  victories 
for  the  Allies,  yet  dreading  the  triumph  of 
Russia.  After  the  defeats  of  the  Russo-Japanese 
War,  when  the  Russian  Government  was  weak- 

72 


The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils 

ened,  it  conceded  certain  liberal  measures  and 
then  revoked  them  almost  entirely  as  its  strength 
returned.  What  have  we  to  expect  from  a 
victory  for  Tsarism,  especially  we  who  are  not 
Russians,  but  a  savage  revival  of  the  crushing 
ideals  of  Panslavism  ? 

This  is  the  agonised  question  which  the  nations 
subject  to  Russia  are  asking  now.  I  read  in 
your  article  that  the  turn  of  Tsarism  will  come 
after  that  of  Prussianism.  In  what  sense  is  this 
to  be  understood?  Is  it  your  opinion  that 
another  war  will  presently  break  out  against 
Tsarism,  or  will  it  be  struck  down  by  the  blows 
of  an  internal  revolution  ?  Is  it  even  possible 
that  France  and  England  obtained  the  promise 
of  a  reform  in  the  internal  politics  of  Russia 
before  allying  themselves  with  her?  And  is  the 
proclamation  to  the  Poles  evidence  of  this  ?  Will 
it  have  any  real  effect  after  the  war  ?  And  those 
other  nations  oppressed  by  Russia — the  Finns, 
the  Letts,  the  Lithuanians,  the  Esthonians,  the 
Armenians,  the  Jews  .  .  . — will  they  too  have 
justice  done  them  ? 

These  questions  are  probably  devoid  of  any 
political  significance.  Yet  without  perceiving  in 
what  manner  France  and  England  can  set  us 
free,  we  do  direct  our  hopes  towards  them.     We 

73 


Above  the  Battle 

believe  that  in  some  way  or  other  they  will  take 
care  in  future  that  their  Russian  ally  shall  show 
herself  worthy  of  them  and  of  the  ideas  for  which 
they  are  fighting,  lest  the  blood  of  those  who 
have  died  in  the  cause  of  freedom  go  to  feed 
the  strength  of  the  oppressors. 

Thus,  sir,  I  have  ventured  uninvited  to  set 
forth  rather  fully  to  you  the  hopes  and  fears  of 
a  nation  which  has  developed  itself  on  a  narrow 
strip  of  land  between  the  two  abysses  of  Pan- 
germanism  and  Panslavism.  Whilst  ardently 
desiring  the  destruction  of  the  former,  we  have 
everything  to  fear  from  the  latter.  Yet  we  do 
not  aspire  to  political  independence.  We  seek 
only  the  possibility  of  developing  freely  our 
intellectual,  artistic,  and  economic  powers,  with- 
out the  perpetual  menace  of  being  absorbed  by 
Russia  or  Germany.  We  believe  that,  in  virtue 
of  the  civilisation  we  have  acquired  in  the  face 
of  obstacles,  we  are  worthy  of  the  liberties  and 
rights  of  man ;  we  are  convinced  that  as  a  nation 
we  have  qualities  which  will  fit  us  to  play  a 
valuable  part  in  the  great  symphony  of  civilised 
peoples. 
Journal  de  Geneve^  October  lo,  1914. 


74 


V 

INTER   ARMA    CARITAS 

Once  more  I  address  myself  to  our  friends  the 
enemy.  But  this  time  I  shall  attempt  no  dis- 
cussion, for  discussion  is  impossible  with  those 
who  avow  that  they  do  not  seek  for  but  possess 
the  truth.  For  the  moment  there  is  no  spiritual 
force  that  can  pierce  the  thick  wall  of  certitude 
by  which  Germany  is  barricaded  against  the  light 
of  day — the  terrible  certitude,  the  pharisaical 
satisfaction  which  pervades  the  monstrous  letter 
of  a  Court  preacher  who  glorifies  God  for  having 
made  him  impeccable,  irreproachable,  and  pure, 
himself,  his  emperor,  his  ministers,  his  army,  and 
his  race ;  and  who  rejoices  beforehand  in  his  "  holy 
wrath  "  at  the  destruction  of  all  who  do  not  think 
as  he  thinks.! 

'  Open  letter  of  Dr.  Ernst  Dryander,  the  First  Court 
Preacher  and  Vice-President  of  the  Higher  Ecclesiastical 
Council,  to  C.  E.  Babut,  Pastor  of  Nimes,  September  15, 
1914  (published  in  fEssor  for  the  loth  October  and  the 
Journal  de  Geneve,  18th  October). 

75 


Above  the  Battle 

True,  I  am  very  far  from  thinking  that  this 
monument  of  anti-Christian  pride  represents  the 
spirit  of  the  better  part  of  Germany.  I  know 
how  many  noble  hearts,  moderate,  affectionate, 
incapable  of  doing  evil  and  almost  of  conceiving  it, 
go  to  make  up  her  moral  strength  ;  amongst  them 
are  friends  that  I  shall  never  cease  to  esteem.  I 
know  how  many  intrepid  minds  work  ceaselessly 
in  German  science  for  the  conquest  of  the  truth. 
.  But  I  see  on  the  one  hand  these  good  people  so 
over-confident,  so  tractable,  with  their  eyes  shut, 
ignorant  of  the  facts  and  unwilling  to  recognise 
anything  but  what  it  is  the  pleasure  of  their 
Government  that  they  shall  know ;  and  on  the 
other,  the  clearest  minds  of  Germany,  historians 
and  savants,  trained  for  the  criticism  of  texts, 
basing  their  conviction  on  documents  which  all 
emanate  from  one  alone  of  the  parties  concerned, 
and  by  way  of  peremptory  proof  referring  us  to 
the  ex-parte  affirmations  of  their  Emperor,  and  of 
their  Chancellor,  like  well-behaved  scholars,  whose 
only  argument  is  Magister  dixit.  What  hope 
remains  of  convincing  such  people  that  there 
exists  a  truth  beyond  that  master,  and  that  in 
addition  to  his  White  Book  we  have  in  our  hands 
books  of  every  kind  and  of  every  colour,  whose 
testimony  demands  the  attention  of  an  impartial 

76 


Inter  Arma  Caritas 

judge?  But  do  they  so  much  as  know  of  their 
existence,  and  does  the  master  allow  his  class  to 
handle  the  manuals  of  his  enemies  ?  Our  dis- 
agreement is  not  only  as  regards  the  facts  of  the 
case ;  it  is  due  to  difference  in  mind  itself. 
Between  the  spirit  of  Germany  to-day  and  that 
of  the  rest  of  Europe  there  is  no  longer  a  point 
of  contact.  We  speak  to  them  of  Humanity ; 
they  reply  with  Uebermensch,  Uebervolk^  and  it 
goes  without  saying  that  they  themselves  are  the 
Uebervolk.  Germany  seems  to  be  overcome  by 
a  morbid  exaltation,  a  collective  madness,  for 
which  there  is  no  remedy  but  time.  According 
to  the  view  of  medical  experts  in  analogous  cases 
such  forms  of  madness  develop  rapidly,  and  are 
suddenly  followed  by  profound  depression.  We 
can  then  but  wait,  and  in  the  meantime  defend 
ourselves  to  the  best  of  our  ability  from  the 
madness  of  Ajax. 

Certainly  Ajax  has  given  us  plenty  of  work 
to  do.  Look  at  the  ruins  around  us  !  We  may 
bring  aid  to  the  victims — yet  how  little  can  we 
achieve  ?  In  the  eternal  struggle  between  good 
and  evil  the  scales  are  not  evenly  balanced.  We 
need  a  century  to  re-create  what  one  day  can 
destroy.  The  fury  of  madness,  on  the  other  hand, 
endures  only  for  a  day  ;  patient  labour  is  our  lot 

77 


Above  the  Battle 

throughout  the  years.  It  knows  no  pause,  even 
in  those  hours  when  the  world  seems  at  an  end. 
The  vine-growers  of  Champagne  gather  in  their 
vintage  though  the  bombs  of  the  rival  armies 
explode  around  them — and  we,  too,  can  do  our 
share !  There  is  work  for  all  who  find  themselves 
outside  the  battle.  Especially  for  those  who  still 
can  write,  it  seems  to  me  that  there  should  be 
something  better  to  do  than  to  brandish  a  pen 
dipped  in  blood  and  seated  at  their  tables  to  cry 
"  Kill !  Kill !  "  I  hate  the  war,  but  even  more  do 
I  hate  those  who  glorify  it  without  taking  part. 
What  would  we  say  of  officers  who  marched 
behind  their  men  ?  The  noblest  role  of  those 
who  follow  in  the  rear  is  to  pick  up  their  friends 
who  fall,  and  to  bear  in  mind  even  during  the 
battle  those  fair  words  so  often  forgotten — Inter 
Anna  Caritas. 

*  * 
Amidst  all  the  misery  which  every  man  of  feel- 
ing can  do  his  share  to  relieve,  let  us  recall  the 
fate  of  the  prisoner  of  war.  But  knowing  that 
Germany  to-day  blushes  at  her  former  senti- 
mentality, I  carefully  refrain  from  appealing  to 
her  pity  by  whinings,  as  they  call  them,  about  the 
destruction  of  Louvain  and  Rheims.  "  War  is 
war."     Granted  ! — then  it  is  natural  that  it  drags 

78 


Inter  Arma  Caritas 

in   its  train  thousands  of  prisoners,  officers   and 
men. 

For  the  moment  I  shall  say  only  a  word  about 
these,  in  order  to  comfort  as  far  as  possible  the 
families  who  are  searching  for  them,  and  are  so 
anxious  about  their  fate.  On  both  sides  hateful 
rumours  circulate  only  too  easily,  rumours  given 
currency  by  an  unscrupulous  press,  rumours  which 
would  have  us  believe  that  the  most  elementary 
laws  of  humanity  are  trampled  under  foot  by  the 
enemy.  Only  the  other  day  an  Austrian  friend 
wrote  to  me,  maddened  by  the  lies  of  some  paper 
or  other,  to  beg  me  to  help  the  German  wounded 
in  France,  who  are  left  without  any  aid.  And 
have  I  not  heard  or  read  the  same  unworthy 
fears  expressed  by  Frenchmen  as  regards  their 
wounded,  who  are  said  to  be  maltreated  in  Ger- 
many ?  But  it  is  all  a  lie — on  both  sides ;  and  tvp  ^ 
those  of  us  whose  task  it  Ts  To  receive  the  true 
information  from  either  camp  must  affirm  the 
contrary.  Speaking  generally  (for  in  so  many 
thousands  of  cases  one  cannot,  of  course,  be  sure 
that  there  will  not  here  and  there  be  individual 
exceptions)  this  war,  whose  actual  conduct  has 
provoked  a  degree  of  harshness  which  our  know- 
ledge of  previous  wars  in  the  West  would  not  have 
allowed  us  to  expect,  is  by  contrast  less  cruel  to 

79 


Above  the  Battle 

all  those — prisoners  and  wounded — who  are  put 
out  of  the  battle  line. 

The  letters  that  we  receive  and  documents 
already  published — especially  an  interesting  account 
which  appeared  in  the  Neue  Ziircher  Zeitung  of 
October  i8th,  written  by  Dr.  Schneeli,  who  had 
just  been  visiting  the  hospitals  and  prisoners' 
camps  in  Germany — show  that  in  that  country 
efforts  are  being  made  to  reconcile  the  ideals  of 
humanity  with  the  exigencies  of  war.  They  make 
it  clear  that  there  is  no  difference  between  the  care 
bestowed  by  the  Germans  on  their  own  wounded 
and  those  of  the  enemy,  and  that  friendly  relations 
exist  between  the  prisoners  and  their  guards,  who 
all  share  the  same  food. 

I  could  wish  that  a  similar  inquiry  might  be 
made  and  published  on  the  camps  where  German 
prisoners  are  concentrated  in  France.  In  the 
meantime  accounts  which  reach  me  from  indi- 
viduals disclose  a  similar  situation,^  and  there  is 

'  The  newspapers  of  both  countries  give  publicity  only  to 
prejudiced  stories  unfavourable  to  the  enemy.  One  would 
imagine  that  they  devote  themselves  to  collecting  only  the 
worst  cases,  in  order  to  preserve  the  atmosphere  of  hatred  ; 
and  those  to  which  they  give  predominance  are  often  doubt- 
ful and  always  exceptional.  No  mention  is  made  of  any- 
thing that  would  tell  in  a  contrary  direction  of  prisoners 
who  are  grateful  for  their  treatment,  as  in  the  letters  which 

80 


Inter   Arma  Caritas 

plenty  of  reliable  evidence  that  in  Germany  and 
France  alike  the  wounded  of  both  countries  are 
living  in  terms  of  friendship.  There  are  even 
soldiers  who  refuse  to  have  their  wounds  dressed 
or  receive  their  rations  before  their  comrades  the 
enemy  have  received  similar  attention.  And  who 
knows  if  it  is  not  perhaps  in  the  ranks  of  the  con- 
tending armies  that  the  feelings  of  national  hatred 
are  least  violent?  For  there  one  learns  to 
appreciate  the  courage  of  one's  adversaries,  since 
the  same  sufferings  are  common  to  all,  and  since 
where  all  energy  is  directed  towards  action  there 
is  none  left  for  personal  animosity.  It  is  amongst 
those  who  are  not  actively  engaged  that  there  is 
developed  the  harsh  and  implacable  brand  of 
hatred,  of  which  certain  intellectuals  provide 
terrible   examples. 

The  moral  situation  of  the  military  prisoner 
is  therefore  not  so  overwhelming  as  might  be  im- 
agined, and  his  lot,  sad  as  it  is,  is  less  to  be 
pitied  than  that  of  another  class  of  prisoners  of 

we  have  to  transmit  to  their  families — in  which,  for  example, 
a  German  civil  prisoner  speaks  of  a  pleasant  walk,  or  of  sea 
bathing,  he  has  been  allowed  to  enjoy.  I  have  even  come 
across  the  case  of  an  entomologist  who  is  peacefully 
absorbed  in  his  researches,  and  profiting  by  his  enforced 
sojourn  in  the  South  of  France  to  complete  his  collection 
of  insects. 

8l  F 


Above  the  Battle 

whom  I  shall  speak  later.  The  feeling  of  duty 
accomplished,  the  memory  of  the  struggle, 
glorifies  his  misfortune  in  his  own  eyes,  and 
even  in  those  of  the  enemy.  He  is  not  totally 
abandoned  to  the  foe ;  international  conventions 
protect  him ;  the  Red  Cross  watches  over  him, 
and  it  is  possible  to  discover  where  he  is  and 
to  come  to  his  assistance. 

In  this  work  the  admirable  Agence  Inter- 
nationale dcs  prisonniers  de  guerre^  most  provi- 
dentially established  some  two  months  after  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  has  caused  the  name 
of  Geneva  to  be  known  and  blessed  in  the 
most  remote  corners  of  France  and  Germany. 
It  only  needs,  like  Providence  itself,  to  gain  the 
co-operation  of  those  over  whose  interests  it 
watches,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  States  concerned 
which  have  been  somewhat  slow  in  supplying 
the  lists  we  need.  Under  the  aegis  of  the 
International  Committee  of  the  Red  Cross,  with 
M.  Gustave  Ador  as  president  and  M.  Max 
Dollfus  as  director,  some  300  voluntary  workers, 
drawn  from  all  classes  of  society,  are  assisting 
in  its  charitable  work.  More  than  15,000  letters 
a  day  pass  through  its  hands.  It  daily  trans- 
mits about  7,000  letters  between  prisoners  and 
their  families,   and    is    responsible    for    the    safe 

82 


Inter  Arma  Caritas 

dispatch  of  some  4,000  francs  on  an  average. 
The  precise  information  which  it  is  able  to 
communicate  was  very  meagre  at  the  start,  but 
soon  increased,  until  a  thousand  cases  could  be 
dealt  with  in  the  course  of  a  single  day  ;  and 
this  number  rapidly  increased  with  the  arrival 
of  more  complete  lists  from  the  Governments 
concerned. 

This  renewal  of  intercourse  between  a  prisoner 
and  his  family  is  not  the  only  beneficial  result 
of  our  organisation.  Its  peaceful  work,  its  im- 
partial knowledge  of  the  actual  facts  in  the 
belligerent  countries,  contribute  to  modify  the 
hatred  which  wild  stories  have  exasperated,  and 
to  reveal  what  remains  of  humanity  in  the 
most  envenomed  enemy.  It  can  also  draw  the 
attention  of  the  different  Governments,  or  at 
least  of  the  general  public,  to  cases  where  a 
speedy  understanding  would  be  in  the  interest 
of  both  parties — as,  for  instance,  in  the  ex- 
change of  men  who  are  so  seriously  wounded, 
that  they  will  be  quite  unable  to  take  further 
part  in  the  war,  and  whom  it  is  useless  and 
inhuman  to  keep  languishing  far  from  their 
friends.  Finally,  it  can  effectively  direct  public 
generosity,  which  often  hesitates  for  want 
of  guidance.      It  can,  for    instance,  point   out  to 

83 


Above  the  Battle 

neutral  countries,  who  are  so  ungrudging  in 
their  anxiety  to  aid  the  sufferings  of  the  com- 
batants, where  help  is  most  urgently  needed — 
for  the  wounded  prisoners,  convalescents  leaving 
the  hospital  without  linen  or  boots,  and  with  no 
claims  on  the  enemy  for  further  support.^ 

Instead  of  showering  gifts  (which,  no  doubt, 
are  never  superfluous)  on  the  armies  who  can 
and  should  be  supported  by  the  peoples  for 
whom  they  are  fighting,  neutrals  might  well 
reserve  the  greater  part  of  their  generosity  for 
those  who  are  most  destitute,  those  whose  need 
is  the  greatest,  for  they  are  feeble,  broken,  and 
alone. 

*  * 
But  there  is  another  class  of  prisoners  on 
whom  I  would  like  interest  to  be  specially  con- 
centrated, for  their  situation  is  far  more  precarious, 
unprotected  as  they  are  by  any  international 
convention.  These  are  the  civil  prisoners.  They 
are  one  of  the  innovations  of  this  unbridled 
war,  which  seems  to  have  set  itself  to  violate 
all  the  rights  of  humanity.  In  former  wars  it 
was  only  a  question  of  a  few  hostages  arrested 
here  and  there  as  a  guarantee  of  good  faith  for 

'  On  this  point,  I  would  echo  the  appeal  in  the  article 
cited  above,  from  the  Neue  Ziirchcr  Zdtung. 

84 


Inter  Arma  Caritas 

the  pledge  of  some  conquered  town.  Never 
until  now  had  one  heard  of  populations  taken 
bodily  into  captivity  on  the  model  of  ancient 
conquests — a  custom  actively  revived  since  the 
beginning  of  this  war.  Such  a  contingency  not 
having  been  foreseen,  no  conventions  existed  to 
regulate  the  situation  in  the  laws  of  war,  if  the 
words  have  any  meaning.  And  as  it  would  have 
been  awkward  to  formulate  fresh  laws  in  the 
midst  of  the  struggle,  it  seemed  more  simple 
to  overlook  them.  It  has  been  as  though  these 
unfortunates  did  not  exist. 

But  they  do  exist,  and  in  thousands.  Their 
number  seems  about  equal  on  both  sides. 
Which  of  the  belligerents  took  the  initiative  in 
these  captures?  At  present  certainty  is  im- 
possible. It  seems  clear  that  in  the  second  half 
of  July  Germany  ordered  the  arrest  of  a 
number  of  Alsatian  civilians.  To  this  France 
replied  the  day  after  her  mobilisation  by  de- 
claring prisoners  Germans  and  Austrians  then 
to  be  found  on  her  territory  The  casting  of 
this  vast  net  was  followed  by  similar  action  in 
Germany  and  Austria,  though,  perhaps,  with 
less  result.  The  conquest  of  Belgium  and  the 
invasion  of  ]the  North  of  France  brought  about 
a  redoubling  of  these    measures    aggravated    by 

85 


Above  the  Battle 

violence.  The  Germans,  on  retiring  after 
their  defeat  on  the  Marne,  methodically  made 
a  clean  sweep  in  the  towns  and  villages  of 
Picardy  and  Flanders  of  all  persons  capable  of 
bearing  arms — 500  men  at  Douai,  at  Amiens 
1,800  summoned  before  the  citadel  on  some 
apparently  harmless  pretext,  and  carried  off 
without  even  the  possibility  of  returning  for 
a  change  of  clothes. 

In  many  cases  the  captures  had  not  even  the 
excuse  of  military  utility.  In  the  village  of 
Sompuis  (Marne)  on  September  loth,  the  Saxons 
seized  a  helpless  village  priest  of  seventy-three, 
scarcely  able  to  walk,  and  five  old  men  of 
ages  from  sixty  to  seventy,  one  of  whom  was 
lame,  and  took  them  away  on  foot.  Elsewhere 
women  and  children  are  taken,  happy  if  they 
can  remain  together.  Here  a  husband,  mad 
with  grief,  searches  for  his  wife  and  son  aged 
three,  who  have  disappeared  since  the  Germans 
passed  through  Quievrechain  (Nord).  There  it 
is  a  mother  and  her  children  taken  by  the 
French  near  Guebwiller ;  the  children  were 
sent  back,  but  not  the  mother.  A  French 
captain,  wounded  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell, 
saw  his  wife  also  wounded  by  German  bullets 
at    Nomeny   (Meurthe-et-Moselle)  ;    since    when 

86 


Inter  Arma  Caritas 

she  has  disappeared,  taken  he  does  not  know 
where.  An  old  peasant  woman  of  sixty-three  is 
taken  away  from  her  husband  near  Villers-aux- 
Vents  (Meuse)  by  a  company  of  Germans.  A 
child  of  sixteen  is  seized  at  its  mother's  house  at 
Mulhouse. 

Such  action  shows  an  utter  lack  of  human 
feeling,  and  is  almost  more  absurd  than  cruel. 
It  really  appears  as  though  people  had  been 
deliberately  separated  from  all  who  were 
dearest  to  them  ;  and  of  those  who  have  so  dis- 
appeared no  trace  remains  by  which  they  can 
at  present  be  found.  I  am  not  speaking  of 
Belgium  ;  there  the  silence  is  as  of  the  grave.  Of 
what  is  taking  place  there  nothing  has  been 
heard  in  the  outer  world  for  three  months.  Are 
the  villages  and  towns  still  in  existence?  I 
have  before  me  letters  from  parents  (in  some 
cases  belonging  to  neutral  nations)  begging  for 
news  of  their  children  of  twelve  or  eight  years 
of  age,  detained  in  Belgium  since  hostilities 
broke  out.  I  have  even  found  in  the  lists  of 
these  vanished  children — doubtless  prisoners  of 
war — youthful  citizens  of  four  and  two  years 
of  age.  Are  we  to  understand  that  they  too 
could  have  been  mobilised  ? 

We  see  the  anguish  of  the  survivors.  Imagine 
87 


Above  the  Battle 

the  distress  of  those  who  have  disappeared, 
deprived  of  money  or  the  means  of  obtaining 
any  from  their  families.  What  misery  is 
revealed  in  the  first  letters  received  from  such 
families  interned  in  France  or  Germany !  A 
mother  whose  little  boy  is  ill,  although  rich 
cannot  procure  any  money.  Another,  with  two 
children,  requests  us  to  warn  her  family  that  if 
after  the  war,  nothing  more  is  heard  of  her,  it 
will  mean  that  she  has  died  of  hunger.  These 
cries  of  misery  seemed  in  the  noise  of  battle  to 
fall  on  deaf  ears  for  the  first  two  months.  The 
Red  Cross  itself,  absorbed  in  its  immense  task, 
reserved  all  its  help  for  the  military  prisoners, 
and  the  Governments  seemed  to  show  a  superb 
disdain  for  their  unfortunate  citizens.  Of  what 
use  are  such  as  cannot  serve !  Yet  these  are 
the  most  innocent  victims  of  this  war.  They 
have  not  taken  part  in  it,  and  nothing  had  pre- 
pared them  for  such  calamities. 

Fortunately  a  man  of  generous  sympathies 
(he  will  not  forgive  me  for  publishing  his  name), 
Dr.  Ferriere,  was  touched  by  the  misfortunes 
of  these  outcasts  of  the  war.  With  a  tenacity 
as  patient  as  it  was  passionate,  he  set  himself 
to  'Construct  in  the  swarming  hive  of  Red  Cross 
workers   a  special  department  to  deal  with  their 

88 


Inter  Arma  Caritas 

distress.  Refusing  to  be  discouraged  by  the 
innumerable  difficulties  and  the  remote  chances 
of  success,  he  persevered,  limiting  himself  at 
first  to  drawing  up  lists  of  the  missing,  and 
trying  to  inspire  confidence  in  their  anxious 
friends.  He  then  attempted  by  every  means 
in  his  power  to  discover  the  place  of  internment, 
and  to  re-establish  communications  between 
relations  and  friends.  What  joy  when  one  can 
announce  to  a  family  that  the  son  or  the  father 
has  been  found !  Every  one  of  us  at  our  table 
— for  I,  too,  had  the  honour  of  sharing  in  the 
work — rejoices  as  though  he  were  a  member 
of  that  family.  And  as  luck  would  have  it 
the  first  letter  of  this  kind  which  I  had  to 
write  was  to  comfort  some  good  people  in  my 
own  little  town  in  the  Nivernais. 

Great  progress  has  already  been  made.  The 
most  pressing  needs  have  obtained  a  hearing. 
The  Governments  have  agreed  to  liberate  women, 
children  under  seventeen,  and  men  over  sixty. 
Repatriation  began  on  October  23rd  through  the 
Bureau  of  Berne,  created  by  the  Federal  Council. 
It  remains,  if  not  to  deliver  the  others  (we  can- 
not count  on  this  before  the  end  of  the  war), 
at  any  rate  to  put  them  in  communication  with 
their  families.     In  such  cases,  as  in  many  others, 

89 


Above  the  Battle 

more  can  be  expected  from  the  charitable 
efforts  of  private  individuals  than  from  Govern- 
ments. The  friends  with  whom  we  communi- 
cated in  Germany  or  Austria  as  in  France  have 
replied  with  enthusiasm,  all  showing  a  generous 
desire  to  take  part  in  our  work.  It  is  such 
questions  transcending  national  pride  which 
reveal  the  underlying  fellowship  of  the  nations 
which  are  tearing  each  other  to  pieces,  and  the 
sacrilegious  folly  of  war.  How  friends  and 
enemies  are  drawn  together  in  the  face  of  common 
suffering  which  the  efforts  of  all  humanity  would 
hardly  suffice  to  alleviate  ! 

When  after  three  months  of  fratricidal  struggle 
one  has  felt  the  calming  influence  of  this  wide 
human  sympathy,  and  turns  once  more  to  the 
field  of  strife,  the  rasping  cries  of  hate  in  the 
press  inspire  only  horror  and  pity.  What  object 
have  they  in  view?  They  wish  to  punish  crimes 
and  are  a  crime  in  themselves ;  for  murderous 
words  are  the  seeds  of  future  murder.  In  the 
diseased  organism  of  a  fevered  Europe  everything 
vibrates  and  reverberates  without  end.  Every 
word,  every  action,  arouses  reprisals.  Him  who 
fans  hatred,  hatred  flares  up  to  consume.  Heroes 
of  officialdom !  bullies  of  the  press !  the  blows 
which     you    deal    very    often    reach   your     own 

90 


V         Inter  Arma  Caritas 

people,  little  though  you  think  it — your  soldiers, 
your  prisoners,  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  They  answer  for  the  harm  which  you 
have  done,  and  you  escape  the  danger. 

We  cannot  stop  the  war,  but  we  can  make 
it  less  bitter.  There  are  medicines  for  the  body. 
We  need  medicines  for  the  soul,  to  dress  the 
wounds  of  hatred  and  vengeance  by  which  the 
world  is  being  poisoned.  We  who  write — let 
that  be  our  task.  And  as  the  Red  Cross  pursues 
its  work  of  mercy  in  the  midst  of  the  combat, 
like  the  bees  of  Holy  Writ  that  made  their 
honey  in  the  jaws  of  the  lion,  let  us  try  to 
support  its  efforts.  Let  our  thoughts  follow 
the  ambulances  that  gather  up  the  wounded  on 
the  field  of  battle.  May  Notre-Dame  la  Misere 
lay  on  the  brow  of  raging  Europe  her  stern 
but  succouring  hand.  May  she  open  the  eyes 
of  these  peoples,  blinded  by  pride,  and  show 
them  that  they  are  but  poor  human  flocks, 
equal  in  the  face  of  suffering;  suffering  at  all 
times  so  great  that  there  is  no  reason  to  add 
to  the  burden. 
Journal  de  Gsncve,  October  30,  19 14. 


91 


VI 


TO  THE   PEOPLE  THAT   IS   SUFFERING 
FOR  JUSTICE 

(For  King  Alberfs  Book.^) 

Belgium  has  just  written  an  Epic,  whose  echoes 
will  resound  throughout  the  ages.  Like  the 
three  hundred  Spartans,  the  little  Belgian  army 
confronts  for  three  months  the  German  Colossus ; 
Leman-Leonides ;  the  Thermopylae  of  Liege ; 
Louvain,  like  Troy,  burnt ;  the  deeds  of 
King  Albert  surrounded  by  his  valiant  men : 
with  what  legendary  grandeur  are  these  figures 
already  invested,  and  history  has  not  yet  com- 
pleted their  story  !  The  heroism  of  this  people, 
who,  without  a  murmur,  sacrificed  everything  for 
honour,  has  burst  like  a  thunderclap  upon  us  at 
a  time  when  the  spirit  of  victorious  Germany 
was  enthroning  in  the  world  a  conception  of 
political  realism,  resting  stolidly  on  force  and 
self-interest.      It   was    a    liberation    of   the    op- 

'  Published  by  the  Daily  Telegraph,  London,  1914. 
92 


People  Suffering  for  Justice 

pressed  idealism  of  the  West.  And  that  the 
signal  should  have  been  given  by  this  little 
nation  seemed  a  miracle. 

Men  call  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  hidden 
reality  a  miracle.  It  is  the  shock  of  danger 
which  makes  us  best  understand  the  character 
of  individuals  and  of  nations.  What  discoveries 
this  war  has  caused  us  to  make  in  those 
around  us,  even  among  those  nearest  and 
dearest  to  us  !  What  heroic  hearts  and  savage 
beasts  !  The  inner  soul,  not  a  new  soul,  reveals 
itself. 

In  this  fearful  hour  Belgium  has  seen  the 
hidden  genius  of  her  race  emerge.  The  sterling 
qualities  that  she  has  displayed  during  the  last 
three  months  evoke  admiration ;  it  should  not 
surprise  any  one  who,  in  the  pages  of  history, 
has  felt,  coursing  through  the  ages,  the  vigorous 
sap  of  her  people.  Small  in  numbers  and  in 
territory,  but  one  of  the  greatest  in  Europe  in 
virtue  of  her  overflowing  vitality.  The  Belgians 
of  to-day  are  the  sons  of  the  Flemings  of 
Courtrai.  The  men  of  this  land  never  feared 
to  oppose  their  powerful  neighbours,  the  kings 
of  France  or  Spain — now  heroes,  now  victims, 
Artevelde  and  Egmont.  Their  soil,  watered  by 
the   blood   of  millions   of   warriors,   is   the   most 

93 


Above  the  Battle 

fertile  in  Europe  in  the  harvests  of  the  spirit. 
From  it  arose  the  art  of  modern  painting,  spread 
throughout  the  world  by  the  school  of  the 
van  Eycks  at  the  time  of  the  Renaissance. 
From  it  arose  the  art  of  modern  music,  of  that 
polyphony  which  thrilled  through  France,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy  for  nearly  two  centuries.  From 
it,  too,  came  the  superb  poetic  efflorescence  of 
our  times ;  and  the  two  writers  who  most 
brilliantly  represent  French  literature  in  the 
world,  Maeterlinck  and  Verhaeren,  are  Belgian. 
They  are  the  people  who  have  suffered  most 
and  have  borne  their  sufferings  most  bravely 
and  cheerfully;  the  martyr-people  of  Philip  II 
and  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm ;  and  they  are  the 
people  of  Rubens,  the  people  of  Kermesses  and 
of  Till  Ulenspiegel. 

He  who  knows  the  amazing  epic  re-told 
by  Charles  de  Coster :  The  heroic,  joyous,  and 
glorious  adventures  of  Ulenspiegel  and  Laviine 
Goedjak,  those  two  Flemish  worthies  who 
might  take  their  places  side  by  side  with  the 
immortal  Don  Quixote  and  his  Sancho  Panza — 
he  who  has  seen  that  dauntless  spirit  at  work, 
rough  and  facetious,  rebellious  by  nature,  always 
offending  the  established  powers,  running  the 
gauntlet  of  all  trials  and   hardships,  and  emerg- 

94 


People  Suffering  for  Justice 

ing  from  them  always  gay  and  smiling — realises 
also  the  destinies  of  the  nation  that  gave  birth 
to  Ulenspiegel,  and  even  in  the  darkest  hour 
fearlessly  looks  towards  the  approaching  dawn 
of  rich  and  happy  days.  Belgium  may  be 
invaded.  The  Belgian  people  will  never  be 
conquered  nor  crushed.  The  Belgian  people 
cannot  die. 

At  the  end  of  the  story  of  Till  Ulenspiegel, 
when  they  think  he  is  dead,  and  are  going  to 
bury  him,  he   wakes  up  : 

'^  Are  they  I'  he  asks,  ^^  going  to  bury  Ulen- 
spiegel the  soul,  Nele  the  heart  of  mother 
Flanders  ?  Sleep,  perhaps,  but  die,  no !  Come 
Neler 

And  he  departed,  singing  his  sixth  song.  But 
no  one  knows  where  he  sang  his  last. 


95 


VII 


LETTER  TO   MY   CRITICS  ' 

November  17,  191 4. 
There  has  reached  me,  after  much  delay,  at 
Geneva,  where  I  am  engaged  on  the  International 
work  of  Prisoners  of  War,  the  echo  of  attacks 
against  me  in  certain  newspapers,  roused  by  the 
articles  that  I  have  published  in  the  Journal  de 
Geneve^  or  rather  by  two  or  three  passages  arbitrarily 
chosen  from  those  articles  (for  they  themselves  are 
scarcely  known  to  anybody  in  France).  My  best 
reply  will  be  to  collect  what  I  have  written  and 
publish  it  in  Paris.  I  would  not  add  a  word  of 
explanation,  for  there  is  not  a  line  that  I  did  not 
think  it  my  right  and  my  duty  to  set  down. 
Moreover,  I  think  that  there  is  better  work  to  do 
at  this  moment  than  to  defend  oneself ;  there  are 
others  to  defend,  the  thousands  of  victims  who  are 

'  The  editor  of  a  great  Paris  paper  having  offered  to 
publish  my  reply  to  those  who  attacked  me,  I  sent  him 
this  article,  which  never  appeared. 

96 


Letter  to  My  Critics 

fighting  in  France.  Time  devoted  to  polemics 
is  like  a  theft  from  these  unfortunates,  from  these 
prisoners  and  families,  whose  hands  seeking  each 
other  across  space  we  are  trying  to  unite  at  Geneva. 

But  not  content  with  attacking  me  personally, 
they  have  attacked  ideas  and  a  cause  which  I 
believe  to  be  that  of  the  true  France ;  and  since 
my  friends  expect  me  to  defend  these  thoughts 
which  are  also  theirs,  I  profit  by  the  hospitality 
which  is  offered  me  to  reply  distinctly  and 
frankly  in  good  French. 

I  have  published  four  articles :  a  letter  to 
Gerhart  Hauptmann,  written  the  day  after  the 
devastation  of  Louvain,  "Above  the  Battle," 
"  The  Lesser  of  Two  Evils,"  and  "  Inter  Arma 
Caritas."  In  these  four  articles  I  have  stated  that 
of  all  the  imperialisms  which  are  the  scourge  of 
the  world,  Prussian  Military  Imperialism  is  the 
worst.  I  have  declared  that  it  is  the  enemy 
of  European  liberty,  the  enemy  of  Western 
civilisation,  the  enemy  of  Germany  herself,  and 
that  it  must  be  destroyed.  On  this  point  I 
imagine  we  are  agreed. 

To  what  do  my  critics  take  exception  ?  With- 
out entering  into  the  discussion  of  certain  points 
of  detail,  such  as  the  appeal  made  by  the  Allies 
to    the   forces   of  Asia   and    Africa   of  which   I 

97  G 


Above  the  Battle 

disapprove,  and  still  disapprove  because  I  see  in 
it  a  near  and  grave  danger  for  Europe  and  for 
the  Allies  themselves,  and  because  this  danger  is 
already  materialising  in  threats  of  disturbance  in 
the  world  of  Islam — exception  is  taken  essen- 
tially on  two  grounds : 

1.  My  refusal  to  include  the  German  people 
and  its  military  and  intellectual  rulers  in  the 
same  denunciation. 

2.  The  esteem  and  friendship  which  I  have 
for  the  individuals  in  the  country  with  which  we 
are  at  war. 

I  will  reply  first  of  all  without  ambiguity  to 
this  second  reproach.  Yes,  I  have  German  friends 
as  I  have  French,  Italian,  and  English  friends, 
and  friends  of  every  race.  They  are  my  wealth  : 
I  am  proud  of  it  and  keep  it.  When  one  has  had 
the  good  fortune  to  meet  in  this  ^^rld  loyal 
souls  with  whom  one  shares  one's  most  intimate 
thoughts,  and  with  whom  one  has  formed  bonds 
of  brotherly  union,  such  bonds  are  sacred,  and  \ 
not  to  be  broken  asunder  in  the  hour  of  trial, 
He  would  be  a  coward  who  timidly  ceased  to 
own  them,  in  order  to  obey  the  insolent  summons 
of  a  public  opinion  which  has  no  right  over  the 
heart.  Does  the  love  of  country  demand  this  * 
unkindness  of  thought   which   is  associated  with 

98 


Letter  to  My  Critics 

the    name    Cornelienne?    Corneille    himself    has 
given  the  answer  : 

— Albe  vous  a  nommi,  je  ne  vous  connais  plus. 
— -Je  vous  connais  encore^  et  c'est  ce  qui  me  tue. 

Certain  letters,  which  I  shall  reproduce  later, 
will  show  the  grief,  sometimes  almost  tragic, 
that  such  friendships  mean  in  these  moments. 
Thanks  to  them,  we  have  at  least  been  able  to 
defend  ourselves  against  a  hatred  which  is  more 
murderous  than  war,  since  it  is  an  infection 
produced  by  its  wounds ;  and  it  does  as  much 
harm  to  those  whom  it  possesses  as  to  those 
against  whom  it  is  directed. 

This  poison  I  see  with  apprehension  spread- 
ing at  the  present  moment.  Amongst  the 
victim  populations,  the  cruelties  and  ravages 
commitlfed  by  the  German  armies  have  brought 
to  birth  a  desire  for  reprisals.  This,  when  once 
in  existence,  is  not  for  the  press  to  exasperate, 
for  such  a  desire  runs  the  risk  of  leading  to 
dangerous  injustice — dangerous  not  only  for  the 
conquered  but  above  all  for  the  conquerors. 
France  has,  in  this  war,  the  chance  of  playing  the 
nobler  part,  the  rarest  chance  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  A  German  wrote  to  me  a  few  weeks 
ago  :   "  France  has  won  in  this  war  a  prodigious 

99 


Above  the  Battle 

moral  triumph.  The  sympathies  of  the  whole 
world  are  drawn  towards  her  ;  and,  most  extra- 
ordinary of  all,  Germany  herself  has  a  secret 
leaning  towards  her  enemy."  All  should  wish 
that  this  moral  triumph  may  be  hers  to  the 
end,  and  that  she  may  remain  to  the  end  just, 
straightforward,  and  humane.  I  could  never 
distinguish  the  cause  of  France  from  that  of 
humanity.  It  is  just  because  I  am  French  that 
I  leave  to  our  Prussian  enemies  the  motto : 
"  Oderint,  dum  tnetuatit."  I  wish  France  to  be 
loved,  I  wish  her  to  be  victorious  not  only  by 
force,  not  only  by  right  (that  would  be  difficult 
enough),  but  by  that  large  and  generous  heart 
which  is  pre-eminently  hers.  I  wish  her  to  be 
strong  enough  to  fight  without  hatred  and  to 
regard  even  those  against  whom  she  is  forced 
to  fight  as  misguided  brothers  who  must  be 
pitied  when  they  have  been  rendered  harmless. 

Our  soldiers  know  it  well,  and  I  say  nothing 
here  of  letters  from  the  front  which  tell  us  of 
compassion  and  kindness  between  the  com- 
batants. But  the  civilians  who  are  outside  the 
combat,  who  do  not  fight,  but  talk,  who  write 
and  embroil  themselves  in  a  factitious  and 
lunatic  agitation  and  are  never  exhausted  ;  these 
are  delivered  over  to  the  winds  of  feverish 
100  fc 


Letter  to  My  Critics 

violence.  And  there  is  the  danger.  For  they  form 
opinion,  the  only  opinion  that  can  be  expressed 
(all  others  are  forbidden).  It  is  for  these  that 
I  write,  not  for  those  who  are  fighting  (they 
have  no  need  of  us  !). 

And  when  I  hear  the  publicists  trying  to  rouse 
the  energies  of  the  nation  by  all  the  stimulants 
at  their  disposal  for  this  one  object,  the  total 
crushing  of  the  enemy  nation,  I  think  it  my 
duty  to  rise  in  opposition  to  what  I  believe  to 
be  at  once  a  moral  and  a  political  error.  You 
make  war  against  a  State,  not  against  a  people. 
It  would  be  monstrous  to  hold  sixty-five  million 
men  responsible  for  the  acts  of  some  thousands 
— perhaps  some  hundreds.  Here  in  French 
Switzerland,  so  passionately  in  sympathy  with 
France,  so  eager  both  in  its  sympathies  and  in 
the  duty  of  restraining  them,  I  have  been  able 
for  three  months,  by  reading  German  letters  and 
pamphlets,  to  examine  closely  the  conscience 
of  the  German  nation.  And  I  have  been  able 
thus  to  take  account  of  a  good  many  facts  which 
escape  the  greater  part  of  the  French  people. 
The  first,  the  most  striking,  the  most  ignored, 
is  that  there  is  not  in  Germany  as  a  whole  any 
real  hatred  of  France  (all  the  hatred  is  turned 
against  England).  The  especial  pathos  of  the 
lOI 


Above  the  Battle 

situation  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  French  spirit 
only  really  began  to  exercise  an  attraction  upon 
Germany  some  two  or  three  years  ago.  Germany 
was  beginning  to  discover  the  true  France,  the 
France  of  work  and  of  faith.  The  new  gene- 
rations, the  young  classes  that  they  have  just  led 
to  the  abattoir  of  Ypres  and  Dixmude,  numbered 
the  purest  souls,  the  greatest  idealists,  those 
most  possessed  by  the  dream  of  universal  brother- 
hood. If  I  say  that  for  many  among  them  the 
war  has  been  a  laceration,  "  a  horror,  a  failure,  a 
renunciation  of  every  ideal,  an  abdication  of  the 
spirit,"  as  one  of  them  wrote  on  the  eve  of  his 
death — if  I  say  that  the  death  of  Peguy  has 
been  mourned  by  many  young  Germans,  no  one 
would  believe  me.  But  belief  will  be  a  necessity 
the  day  I  publish  the  documents  which  I  have 
collected. 

It  is  somewhat  better  understood  in  France 
how  this  German  nation,  enveloped  in  the  network 
of  lies  woven  by  its  Government,  and  abandoning 
herself  thereto  with  a  blind  and  obstinate  loyalty, 
is  profoundly  convinced  that  she  was  attacked, 
hemmed  in  by  the  jealousy  of  the  world ;  and 
that  she  must  defend  herself  at  all  costs  or  die. 
It  is  among  the  chivalrous  traditions  of  France  to 
render  homage  to   the  courage  of  an  adversary. 

102 


Letter  to  My  Critics 

One  owes  it  to  that  adversary  to  recognise  that 
in  default  of  other  virtues  the  spirit  of  sacrifice 
is,  in  the  present  instance,  almost  boundless.  It 
would  be  a  great  mistake  to  force  it  to  extremes. 
Instead  of  driving  this  blind  people  to  a  mag- 
nificent and  desperate  defence,  let  us  try  to  open 
their  eyes.  It  is  not  impossible.  An  Alsatian 
patriot,  to  whom  one  could  not  impute  indul- 
gence for  Germany,  Dr  Bucher  of  Strasbourg, 
told  me  not  long  since,  that  even  though  the 
German  is  full  of  haughty  prejudices  carefully 
fostered  by  his  teachers,  he  is  at  any  rate  always 
amenable  to  discussion  and  his  docile  spirit  is 
accessible  to  arguments.  As  an  example,  I  would 
instance  the  secret  evolution  that  I  see  in  progress 
in  the  thought  of  certain  Germans.  Numbers 
of  German  letters  that  I  have  read  this  month 
begin  to  utter  agonised  questionings  as  to  the 
legitimacy  of  the  proceedings  of  Germany  in 
Belgium.  I  have  seen  this  anxiety  growing, 
little  by  little,  in  consciences  which  at  first  reposed 
in  the  conviction  of  their  right.  Truth  is  slowly 
dawning.  What  will  happen  if  its  light  conquers 
and  spreads  ?  Carry  truth  in  your  hands  !  Let 
it  be  our  strongest  weapon !  Let  us,  like  the 
soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  whose  heart  lives  again 
in  our  troops,  fight  not  against  our  enemies,  but 
103 


Above  the  Battle 

for  them.  In  saving  the  world,  let  us  save 
them  too.  France  does  not  break  old  chains  in 
order  to  rivet  new. 

Your   thoughts   are   fixed  on  victory.     I  think 
of  the   peace    which   will    follow.     For  however 
insistently  the  most   militarist   among    you   may 
talk,  venturing  as  did  an  article  to  hold  out  the 
delightful   promise   of  a  perpetual   war — "  a   war 
which  will  last  after  this  war,  indefinitely.  .  .  . "  ^ 
(it  will   come   to   an   end,   nevertheless — for   lack 
of    combatants !)  .  .  .  there    must  come    a    day 
when  you  will  stretch  out  the  hand  of  friendship, 
you  and  your  neighbours  across  the  Rhine,  if  it 
were  only  to  come  to  an  agreement,  for  the  sake 
of  your    own    business.    You   will    have   to  re- 
establish supportable   and   humane   relations :    so 
set  to   work   in  such   a  manner   as  not  to  make 
them  impossible !     Do   not   break   down   all   the 
bridges,   since  it  will  ever   be   necessary  to   cross 
the  river.     Do  not  destroy   the   future.     A   good 
open,  clean  wound  will  heal ;  but  do  not  poison  it. 
Let  us  be  on  our  guard  against  hatred.     If  we 
prepare  for  war  in  peace  according  to  the  wisdom 
of  nations,  we  should  also  prepare  for   peace  in 
war.     It   is   a   task   which  seems   to  me  not  un- 
worthy of  those   among  us  who  find  themselves 
'  i  Paul  Bourget 
104 


Letter  to  My  Critics 

outside  the  struggle,  and  who  through  the  life  of 
the  spirit  have  wider  relations  with  the  universe 
— a  little  lay  church  which,  to-day  more  than  the 
other,  preserves  its  faith  in  the  unity  of  human 
thought  and  believes  that  all  men  are  sons  of 
the  same  Father.  In  any  case,  if  such  a  faith 
merits  insult,  the  insults  constitute  an  honour 
that  we  will  claim  as  ours  before  the  tribunal  of 
posterity. 


105 


VIII 

THE   IDOLS 

For  more  than  forty  centuries  it  has  been  the 
effort  of  great  minds  who  have  attained  liberty 
to  extend  this  blessing  to  others ;  to  liberate 
humanity  and  to  teach  men  to  see  reality  with- 
out fear  or  error,  to  look  themselves  in  the  face 
without  false  pride  or  false  humility  and  to 
recognise  their  weakness  and  their  strength,  that 
they  may  know  their  true  position  in  the  universe. 
They  have  illumined  the  path  with  the  bright- 
ness of  their  lives  and  their  example,  like  the 
star  of  the  magi,  that  mankind  may  have  light. 
Their  efforts  have  failed.  For  more  than  forty 
centuries  humanity  has  remained  in  bondage — 
I  do  not  say  to  masters  (for  such  are  of  the 
order  of  the  flesh,  of  which  I  am  not  speaking 
here ;  and  their  chains  break  sooner  or  later) 
but  to  the  phantoms  of  their  own  minds.  Such 
servitude  comes  from  within.     We  grow  faint  in 

1 06 


The  Idols 

the  endeavour  to  cut  the  bonds  which  bind 
mankind,  who  straightway  tie  them  again  to  be 
more  firmly  enthralled.  Of  every  liberator  men 
make  a  master.  Every  ideal  which  ought  to 
liberate  is  transformed  into  a  clumsy  Idol.  The 
history  of  humanity  is  the  history  of  Idols  and  of 
their  successive  reigns  ;  and  as  humanity  grows 
older  the  power  of  the  Idol  seems  to  wax 
greater  and  more  destructive. 

At  first  the  divinities  were   of  wood,  of  stone, 

or  of  metal.     Those  at  any  rate  were  not  proof 

against  the  axe  or  against  fire.     Others  followed 

that  no  material  force  could  reach,  for  they  were 

graven  in  the  invisible  mind.    Yet  all  aspired  to 

material  dominion,  and   to   secure  for  them  that 

dominion  the  peoples  of  the  world  have  poured 

out  their   best  blood  :     Idols  of  religions  and  of 

nationality :    the     Idol    of    liberty    whose    reign 

was  established  in   Europe  by  the  armies  of  the 

sans-culotte  at   the   point   of   the   bayonet.      The 

masters   have   changed,   the   slaves   are    still    the 

same.     Our  century   has  made  the  acquaintance 

of  two  new  species.     The    Idol   of  Race,  at  first 

the    outcome    of    noble    ideas,    became    in    the 

laboratories    of   spectacled    savants    the    Moloch 

which  Germany  hurled  herself  against  France  in 

1870  and  which  her    enemies   now   wish  to   use 

107 


Above  the  Battle 

against  the  Germany  of  to-day.  The  latest  on 
the  scene  is  that  authentic  product  of  German 
science,  fraternally  allied  to  the  labours  of  in- 
dustry, of  commerce,  and  of  the  firm  of  Krupp 
— the  Idol  of  Kultur  surrounded  by  its  Levitcs, 
the  thinkers  of  Germany. 

The  common  feature  of  the  cult  of  all  Idols 
is  the  adaptation  of  an  ideal  to  the  evil  instincts 
of  mankind.     Man  cultivates  the  vices  which  are 


profitable  to  him,  but  feels  the  necessity  of 
legitimising  them ;  being  unwilling  to  sacrifice 
them,  he  must  idealise  them.  That  is  why  the 
problem  at  which  he  has  never  ceased  to  labour 
throughout  the  centuries  has  been  to  harmonise 
his  ideals  with  his  own  mediocrity.  He  has 
always  succeeded.  The  crowd  has  no  difficulty 
here.  It  sets  side  by  side  its  virtues  and  its 
vices,  its  heroism  and  its  meanness.  The  force 
of  its  passions  and  the  rapid  course  of  the  days 
which  carry  it  along  cause  it  to  forget  its  lack 
of  logic. 

But  the  intelligent  few  cannot  satisfy  them- 
selves with  so  little  effort.  Not  that  they  are, 
as  is  often  said,  less  readily  swayed  by  passion. 
This  is  a  grave  error ;   the  richer  a  life  becomes 

io8 


The  Idols 

the  more  does  it  offer  for  passion  to  devour, 
and  history  sufficiently  shows  the  terrifying 
paroxysms  to  which  the  lives  of  religious  leaders 
and  revolutionaries  have  attained.  But  these 
toilers  in  the  spirit  love  careful  work,  and  are 
repelled  by  popular  modes  of  thought  which 
perpetually  break  through  the  meshes  of  reason- 
ing. They  have  to  make  a  more  closely  woven 
net  in  which  instinct  and  idea,  cost  what  it  may 
combine  to  form  a  stouter  tissue.  They  thus 
achieve  monstrous  chefs-d'oeuvre.  Give  an  in- 
tellectual any  ideal  and  any  evil  passion  and 
he  will  always  succeed  in  harmonising  the 
twain.  The  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  man- 
kind have  been  invoked  in  order  to  burn,  kill, 
and  pillage.  The  fraternity  of  1793  was  sister  to 
the  Holy  Guillotine.  We  have  in  our  time  seen 
Churchmen  seeking  and  finding  in  the  Gospels 
the  justification  of  Banking  and  of  War.  Since 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  a  clergyman  of  Wiir- 
temberg  established  the  fact  that  neither  Christ 
nor  John  the  Baptist  nor  the  apostles  desired  to 
suppress  militarism.^     A   clever  intellectual  is  a 

'  The  Evangelical  pastor  Schrenck  in  an  article  on  "  War 
and  the  New  Testament,"  quoted  with  approval  by   the 
Rev.  Cb.  Correvon  in  the  Journal  religieux  of  Neuchatel, 
November  14th. 
A  109 


Above  the  Battle 

conjuror  in  ideas.  '■^Nothing in  my  hands — nothing 
up  my  sleeves"  The  great  trick  is  to  extract 
from  any  given  idea  its  precise  contrary — war 
from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  or,  like 
Professor  Ostwald,  the  military  dictatorship  of 
the  Kaiser  from  the  dream  of  an  intellectual 
internationalism.  For  such  conjurors  these  things 
are  but  child's-play. 

Let  us  expose  them,  by  examining  the  words 
of  this  Dr.  Ostwald,  who  has  appeared  during 
the  last  few  months  as  the  Baptist  of  the  Gospel 
of  the  spiked  helmet. 

Here  is  the  Idol  to  begin  with — Kultur  {made 
in  Germany),  with  a  capital  K  "  rectiligne  et  de 
quatre  pointeSy  comme  un  chevel  de  /rise"  as  Miguel 
de  Unamuno  wrote  to  me.  All  around  are  little 
gods,  the  children  of  its  loins :  Kulturstaat, 
Kulturbundy  Kulturitnperium.  .  .  . 

^^  I  am  now"  {it  is  the  voice  of  Ostwald^')  ''''going 
to  explain  to  you  the  great  secret  of  Germany.  We, 
or  rather  the  Germanic  race,  have  discovered  the 
factor  t?/"  Organisation.  Other  peoples  still  live  under 
the  rigime  of  individualism  while  we  are  under 
that  of  Organisation.  The  stage  of  Organisation  is 
a  more  advanced  stage  of  civilisation" 

'  In  a  declaration  to  the  editor  of  the  Swedish  paper 
Da£en. 

no 


The  Idols 

It  is  surely  clear  that,  like  those  missionaries 
who,  in  order  to  carry  the  Christian  faith  to 
heathen  peoples,  secure  the  co-operation  of  a 
squadron  and  a  landing  party  which  straightway 
establish  in  the  idolatrous  country  commercial 
stores  protected  by  a  ring  of  cannon,  German 
intelligence  cannot  without  selfishness  keep  her 
treasures  to  herself.  She  is  obliged  to  share 
them. 

"  Germany  wishes  to  organise  Europe,  for  Europe 
has  hitherto  not  been  organised.  With  us  everything 
tends  to  elicit  from  each  individual  the  maximal 
output  in  the  direction  most  favourable  for  society. 
That  for  us  is  liberty  in  its  highest  form  ^^ 

We  may  well  pause  to  marvel  at  this  way  of 
talking  about  human  "  culture  "  as  though  it  were 
a  question  of  asparagus  and  artichokes.  Of  this 
happiness,  and  these  advantages,  this  maximal 
output,  this  market-garden  culture,  this  liberty 
of  artichokes  subjected  to  a  judicious  forcing 
process.  Professor  Ostwald  does  not  wish  to 
deprive  the  other  peoples  of  Europe.  As  they 
are  so  unenlightened  as  not  to  acquiesce  with 
enthusiasm  : 

"  War  will  make  them  participate  in  the  form  of 
this  organisation  in  our  higher  civilisation" 

Thereupon  the  chemist-philosopher,  who  is  also 
III 


Above  the  Battle 

in  his  leisure  hours  a  politician  and  a  strategist, 
sketches  in  bold  outline  the  picture  of  the  vic- 
tories of  Germany  and  a  remodelled  Europe 
— a  United  States  of  Europe  under  the  pater- 
nal sceptre  of  his  mailed  Kaiser :  England 
crushed,  France  disarmed,  and  Russia  dismem- 
bered. His  colleague  Haeckel  completes  this 
joyous  expose  by  dividing  Belgium,  the  British 
Empire,  and  the  North  of  France — like  Perrette 
of  the  fable  before  her  pitcher  broke.  Unfortu- 
nately neither  Haeckel  nor  Ostwald  tell  us  if 
their  plan  for  the  establishment  of  this  higher 
civilisation  included  the  destruction  of  the  Halle 
of  Ypres,  of  the  Library  at  Louvain,  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Rheims.  After  all  these  conquests, 
divisions,  and  devastations,  let  us  not  overlook  this 
wonderful  sentence  of  which  Ostwald  certainly 
did  not  realise  the  sinister  buffoonery,  worthy 
of  a  Moliere :  "  You  know  that  I  am  a  pacifist." 
However  far  the  high  priests  of  a  cult  may 
allow  their  emotion  to  carry  them,  their  pro- 
fession of  faith  still  retains  a  certain  diplomatic 
reserve  which  does  not  hamper  their  followers. 
Thus  the  Kulturmenschen.  But  the  zeal  of  their 
Levites  must  frequently  disturb  the  serenity 
of  Moses  and  Aaron — Haeckel  and  Ostwald — 
by  its  intemperate  frankness.      I   do   not   know 

112 


The  Idols 

what  they  think  of  the  article  of  Thomas  Mann 
which  appeared  in  the  November  number  of  the 
Neue  Rundschau  :  "  Gedanken  im  Kriege."  But 
I  do  know  what  certain  French  intellectuals  will 
think  of  it.  Germany  could  not  offer  them  a 
more  terrible  weapon  against  herself. 

In  an  access  of  delirious  pride  and  exasperated 
fanaticism  Mann  employs  his  envenomed  pen  to 
justify  the  worst  accusations  that  have  been  made 
against  Germany.  While  an  Ostwald  endeavours 
to  identify  the  cause  of  Kultur  with  that  of 
civilisation,  Mann  proclaims  :  "They  have  nothing 
in  common.  The  present  war  is  that  of  Kultur 
(i.e.  of  Germany)  against  civilisation."  And 
pushing  this  outrageous  boast  of  pride  to  the 
point  of  madness,  he  defines  civilisation  as  Reason 
{Vernunft^  Aufkldrung),  Gentleness  {Sitttgung, 
Sdnftigung)^  Spirit  {Geist,  Auflosung),  and 
Kultur  as  "  a  spiritual  organisation  of  the  world  " 
which  does  not  exclude  "  bloody  savagery." 
Kultur  is  "  the  sublimation  of  the  demoniacal  " 
{die  Sublimierung  des  Ddinonischen).  It  is 
"  above  morality,  above  reason,  and  above  science." 
While  Ostwald  and  Haeckel  see  in  militarism 
merely  an  arm  or  instrument  of  which  Kultur 
makes  use  to  secure  victory,  Thomas  Mann  affirms 
that  Kultur  and  Militarism  are  brothers — their 
113  H 


Above  the  Battle 

ideal  is  the  same,  their  aim  the  same,  their  prin- 
ciple the  same.  Their  enemy  is  peace,  is  spirit 
("/«,  der  Geist  ist  zivil^  ist  biirgerlich  ").  He  finally 
dares  to  inscribe  on  his  own  and  his  country's 
banner  the  words,  "  Law  is  the  friend  of  the 
weak  ;  it  would  reduce  the  world  to  a  level.  War 
brings  out  strength." 

Das  Gesetz  ist  der  Freund  des  Schwachen, 

Mochte  gem  die  Welt  verjiachen 

Aber  der  Krieg  I'asst  die  Kraft  erscheinen  .  .  . 

In  this  criminal  glorification  of  violence, 
Thomas  Mann  himself  has  been  surpassed. 
Ostwald  preached  the  victory  of  Kultur,  if 
necessary  by  Force ;  Mann  proved  that  Kultur 
is  Force.  Some  one  was  needed  to  cast  aside 
the  last  veil  of  reserve  and  say  "  Force  alone. 
All  else  be  silent."  We  have  read  extracts 
from  the  cynical  article  in  which  Maximilian 
Harden,  treating  the  desperate  efforts  of  his 
Government  to  excuse  the  violation  of  Belgian 
neutrality  as  feeble  lies,  dared  to  write : 

"  Wky  on  earth  all  this  fuss  ?  Might  creates  our 
Right.  Did  a  powerful  man  ever  submit  himself 
to  the  crazy  pretensions  or  to  the  judgment  of  a 
band  of  weaklings  ?  " 

What  a  testimony  to  the  madness  into  which 
114 


The  Idols 

German  intelligence  has  been  precipitated  by 
pride  and  struggle,  and  to  the  moral  anarchy 
of  this  Empire,  whose  organisation  is  imposing 
only  to  the  eyes  of  those  who  do  not  see  farther 
than  the  fagade !  Who  cannot  see  the  weak- 
ness of  a  Government  which  gags  its  socialist 
press  and  yet  tolerates  such  an  insulting  con- 
tradiction as  this  ?  Who  does  not  see  that 
such  words  defame  Germany  before  the  whole 
world  for  centuries  to  come?  These  miserable 
intellectuals  imagine  that  with  their  display  of 
infuriated  Nietzcheism  and  Bismarckism  they 
are  acting  heroically  and  impressing  the  world. 
They  merely  disgust  it.  They  wish  to  be  be- 
lieved. People  are  only  too  ready  to  believe 
them.  The  whole  of  Germany  will  be  made 
responsible  for  the  delirium  of  a  few  writers. 
Germany  will  one  day  realise  she  has  had  no 
more  deadly  enemy  than  her  own  intellectuals. 

*  * 

I  write  here  without  prejudice,  for  I  am  cer- 
tainly not  proud  of  our  French  intellectuals. 
The  Idol  of  Race,  or  of  Civilisation,  or  of 
Latinity,  which  they  so  greatly  abuse,  does  not 
satisfy  me.  I  do  not  like  any  idol — not  even 
that  of  Humanity.  But  at  any  rate  those  to 
115 


Above  the  Battle 

which  my  country  bows  down  are  less  dangerous. 
They  are  not  aggressive,  and,  moreover,  there 
remains  even  in  the  most  fanatical  of  our  in- 
tellectuals a  basis  of  native  common  sense,  of 
which  the  Germans  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken 
seem  to  have  lost  all  trace.  But  it  must  be 
admitted  that  on  neither  side  have  they  brought 
honour  to  the  cause  of  reason,  which  they  have 
not  been  able  to  protect  against  the  winds  of 
violence  and  folly.  There  is  a  saying  of  Emer- 
son's which  is  applicable  to  their  failure  : 

^^  Nothing  is  more  rare  in  any  man  than  an 
act  of  his  own" 

Their  acts  and  their  writings  have  come  to 
them  from  others,  from  outside,  from  public 
opinion,  blind  and  menacing.  I  do  not  wish  to 
condemn  those  who  have  been  obliged  to  remain 
silent  either  because  they  are  in  the  armies,  or 
because  the  censorship  which  rules  in  countries 
involved  in  war  has  imposed  silence  upon  them. 
But  the  unheard-of  weakness  with  which  the 
leaders  of  thought  have  everywhere  abdicated  to 
the  collective  madness  has  certainly  proved  their 
lack  of  character. 

Certain  somewhat  paradoxical  passages   in  my 
own   writings   have   caused    me   at   times   to    be 
styled   an    anti-intellectual ;  an  absurd  charge  to 
ii6 


The  Idols 

bring  against  one  who  has  given  his  life  to  the 
worship  of  thought.  But  it  is  true  that  Intel- 
lectualism  has  often  appeared  to  me  as  a  mere 
caricature  of  Thought — Thought  mutilated,  de- 
formed, and  petrified,  powerless,  not  only  to 
dominate  the  drama  of  life,  but  even  to  under- 
stand it.  And  the  events  of  to-day  have  proved 
me  more  in  the  right  than  I  wished  to  be. 
The  intellectual  lives  too  much  in  the  realm 
of  shadows,  of  ideas.  Ideas  have  no  existence 
in  themselves,  but  only  through  the  hopes  or 
experiences  which  can  fill  them.  They  are 
either  summaries,  or  hypotheses  ;  frames  for  what 
has  been  or  will  be ;  convenient  or  necessary 
formulae.  One  cannot  live  and  act  without 
them,  but  the  evil  is  that  people  make  them 
into  oppressive  realities.  No  one  contributes 
more  to  this  than  the  intellectual,  whose  trade 
it  is  to  handle  them,  who,  biassed  by  his  pro- 
fession, is  always  tempted  to  subordinate  reality 
to  them.  Let  there  supervene  a  collective 
passion  which  completes  his  blindness,  and  it 
will  be  cast  in  the  form  of  the  idea  which  can 
best  serve  its  purpose :  it  transfers  its  life-blood 
to  that  idea,  and  the  idea  magnifies  and  glorifies 
it  in  turn.  Nothing  is  more  long-lived  in  a 
man  than  a  phantom  which  his  own   mind   has 

117 


Above  the  Battle 

created,  a  phantom  in  which  are  combined  the 
madness  of  his  heart  and  the  madness  of  his 
head.  Hence  the  intellectuals  in  the  present 
crisis  have  not  been  overcome  by  the  warlike 
contagion  less  than  others,  but  they  have  them- 
selves contributed  to  spreading  it.  I  would  add 
(for  it  is  their  punishment)  that  they  are  victims 
of  the  contagion  for  a  longer  period  :  for  whilst 
simple  folk  constantly  submit  to  the  test  of 
everyday  action  and  of  experience,  and  modify 
their  ideas  without  conscious  regret,  the  intel- 
lectual finds  himself  bound  in  the  net  of  his 
own  creation  and  every  word  that  he  writes 
draws  the  bonds  tighter.  Hence  while  we  see 
that  in  the  soldiers  of  all  armies  the  fire  of  hate 
is  rapidly  dying  down  and  that  they  already 
fraternise  from  trench  to  trench,  the  writers 
redouble  their  furious  arguments.  We  can  easily 
prophesy  that  when  the  remembrance  of  this 
senseless  war  has  passed  away  among  the  people 
its  bitterness  will  still  be  smouldering  in  the 
hearts  of  the  intellectuals.  .  .  . 

Who  shall  break  the  idols  ?  Who  shall  open 
the  eyes  of  their  fanatical  followers  ?  Who  shall 
make  them  understand  that  no  god  of  their 
minds,  religious  or  secular,  has  the  right  to  force 
himself  on  other  human  beings — even  he  who 
ii8 


The  Idols 

seems  the  most  worthy — or  to  despise  them  ? 
Admitting  that  your  Kultur  on  German  soil 
produces  the  sturdiest  and  most  abundant  human 
crop,  who  has  entrusted  to  you  the  mission  of 
cultivating  other  lands?  Cultivate  your  own 
garden.  We  will  cultivate  ours.  There  is  a 
sacred  flower  for  which  I  would  give  all  the 
products  of  your  artificial  culture.  It  is  the  wild 
violet  of  Liberty.  You  do  not  care  about  it. 
You  tread  it  under  foot.  But  it  will  not  die. 
It  will  live  longer  than  your  masterpieces  of 
barrack  and  hot-house.  It  is  not  afraid  of  the 
wind.  It  has  braved  other  tempests  than  that 
of  to-day.  It  grows  under  brambles  and  under 
dead  leaves.  Intellectuals  of  Germany,  intel- 
lectuals of  France,  labour  and  sow  on  the  fields 
of  your  own  minds  :  respect  those  of  others. 
Before  organising  the  world  you  have  enough 
to  do  to  orgatiise  your  own  private  world.  Try 
for  a  moment  to  forget  your  ideas  and  behold 
yourselves.  And  above  all,  look  at  us.  Champions 
of  Kultur  and  of  Civilisation,  of  the  Germanic 
races  and  of  Latinity,  enemies,  friends,  let  us  look 
one  another  in  the  eyes.  My  brother,  do  you 
not  see  there  a  heart  similar  to  your  own,  with 
the  same  hopes,  the  same  egoism,  and  the  same 
heroism  and  power  of  dream  which  for  ever 
H9 


Above  the  Battle 

refashions  its  gossamer  web  ?  Vois-tu  pas  que  tu 
es  nioi?  said  the  old  Hugo  to  one  of  his 
enemies.  .  .  . 

The  true  man  of  culture  is  not  he  who  makes 
of  himself  and  his  ideal  the  centre  of  the  universe, 
but  who  looking  around  him  sees,  as  in  the  sky 
the  stream  of  the  Milky  Way,  thousands  of  little 
flames  which  flow  with  his  own ;  and  who  seeks 
neither  to  absorb  them  nor  to  impose  upon  them 
his  own  course,  but  to  give  himself  the  religious 
persuasion  of  their  value  and  of  the  common 
source  of  the  fire  by  which  all  alike  are  fed. 
Intelligence  of  the  mind  is  nothing  without  that 
of  the  heart.  It  is  nothing  also  without  good 
sense  and  humour — good  sense  which  shows  to 
every  people  and  to  every  being  their  place  in  the 
universe — and  humour  which  is  the  critic  of 
misguided  reason,  the  soldier  who,  following  the 
chariot  to  the  Capitol,  reminds  Caesar  in  his  hour 
of  triumph  that  he  is  bald. 
Journal  de  Geneve^  December  4,  1914. 


120 


IX 

FOR  EUROPE 

MANIFESTO    OF    THE    WRITERS    AND    THINKERS    OF 
CATALONIA 

National  passions  are  triumphant.  For  five 
months  they  have  rent  our  Europe.  They  think 
they  will  soon  have  compassed  its  destruction 
and  effaced  its  image  in  the  hearts  of  the  last  of 
these  who  remain  faithful  to  it.  But  they  are 
mistaken.  They  have  renewed  the  faith  that  we 
had  in  it.  They  have  made  us  recognise  its  value 
and  our  love.  And  from  one  country  to  another 
we  have  discovered  our  unknown  brothers,  sons 
of  the  same  mother,  who  in  the  hour  when  she 
is  denied,  consecrate  themselves  to  her  defence. 
To-day,  it  is  from  Spain  that  the  voice  reaches 
us,  from  the  thinkers  of  Catalonia.  Let  us 
pass  on  their  appeal  which  comes  to  us  from  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  like  the  sound  of  a 
Christmas  bell.  Another  day  the  bells  of  Northern 
Europe  will    be  heard    in  their   turn.     And  soon 

121 


Above  the   Battle 

all  will  ring  together  in  unison.  The  test  is  good. 
Let  us  be  thankful.  Those  who  desired  to  sepa- 
rate us  have  joined  our  hands. 

R.  R. 
December  II,  1914. 

MANIFESTO   OF    THE   FRIENDS   OF 
THE  MORAL    UNITY  OF  EUROPE 

A  number  of  literary  and  scientific  men  at 
Barcelona,  as  far  removed  from  amorphous  inter- 
nationalism on  the  one  hand  as  from  mere 
parochialism  on  the  other,  have  banded  them- 
selves together  to  affirm  their  unchangeable  belief 
in  the  moral  unity  of  Europe,  and  to  further  this 
belief  as  far  as  the  suffocating  conditions  resulting 
from  the  present  tragic  circumstances  permit. 

We  set  out  from  the  principle  that  the  terrible 
war  which  to-day  is  rending  the  heart  of  this 
Europe  of  ours  is,  by  implication,   a  Civil  War, 

A  civil  war  does  not  exactly  mean  an  unjust 
war ;  still,  it  can  only  be  justified  by  a  conflict 
between  great  ideals,  and  if  we  desire  the  triumph 
of  one  or  the  other  of  these  ideals,  it  must  be 
for  the  sake  of  the  entire  European  Common- 
wealth and  its  general  well-being.  None  of  the 
belligerents,  therefore,  can  be  allowed  to  aim  at 
the  complete  destruction  of  its  opponents  ;  and 
122 


For  Europe  (Spain) 

it  is  even  less  legitimate  to  start  out  from  the 
criminal  hypothesis  that  one  or  another  of  the 
parties  is  de  facto  already  excluded  from  this 
superior  commonwealth. 

Yet  we  have  seen  with  pain  assertions  such 
as  these  approved  and  deliriously  spread  abroad  ; 
and  not  always  amongst  common  people,  or  by 
the  voices  of  those  who  speak  not  with  authority. 
For  three  months  it  seemed  as  if  our  ideal 
Europe  were  shipwrecked,  but  a  reaction  is 
making  its  appearance  already.  A  thousand 
indications  assure  us  that,  in  the  world  of  intellect 
at  any  rate,  the  winds  are  quietening  down,  and 
that  in  the  best  minds  the  eternal  values  will 
soon  spring  up  once  more. 

It  is  our  purpose  to  assist  in  this  reaction,  to 
contribute  to  making  it  known,  and,  as  far  as 
we  are  able,  to  ensure  its  triumph.  We  are  not 
alone.  We  have  with  us  in  every  quarter  of 
the  world  the  ardent  aspirations  of  far-sighted 
minds,  and  the  unvoiced  wishes  of  thousands  of 
men  of  good  will,  who,  beyond  their  sympathies 
and  personal  preferences,  are  determined  to 
remain  faithful  to  the  cause  of  this  moral 
unity. 

And  above  all  we  have,  in  the  far  distant  future 
the  appreciation  of  the  men  who  to-morrow  will 
123 


Above  the  Battle 

applaud  this  modest  work  to  which  we  are  devot- 
ing ourselves  to-day. 

We  will  begin  by  giving  the  greatest  possible 
publicity  to  those  actions,  declarations,  and 
manifestations  —  whether  they  emanate  from 
belligerent  or  neutral  nations — in  which  the  effort 
of  reviving  the  feeling  of  a  higher  unity  and  a 
generous  altruism  may  become  apparent.  Later 
we  shall  be  able  to  extend  our  activities  and  place 
them  at  the  service  of  new  enterprises.  We 
demand  nothing  more  of  our  friends,  of  our  press, 
and  of  our  fellow-citizens  than  a  littte  attention 
for  these  quickenings  of  reality,  a  little  respect 
for  the  interests  of  a  higher  humanity,  and  a 
little  love  for  the  great  traditions  and  the  rich 
possibilities  of  a  unified  Europe. 

Barcelona,  November  27,  19 14. 

EUGENIO  d'Ors,  Member  of  the  Institute; 
Manuel  de  Montoliu,  Author;  Aurelio  Ras, 
Director  of  the  Review  Estudio ;  AUGUSTIN 
MuRtJA,  University  Professor ;  Telesforo  de 
Aranzadi,  University  Professor;  MIGUEL  S. 
Oliver  ;  Juan  Palau,  publicist ;  Pablo  Vila, 
Director  oi  Mont  d" Or  QoW^g'^;  ENRIQUE  Jardi 
Barrister;  E.  Messeguer,  publicist;  Carmen 
Karr,  Director  of  the  Residencia  de  Estudiantes 
124 


For  Europe  (Spain) 

El  Hogar ;  ESTEBAN  Terrades,  Member  of  the 

Institute  ;  JoSE  Zulueta,  Member  of  Parliament ; 

R.  JORI,  Author;    EUDALDO  DURAN    Reynals, 

Librarian  of  the  Biblioteca  de  Cataluna  ;  RAFAEL 

Campalans,     Engineer ;    J.     M.     L6pez-Pic6, 

Author;    R.    RUOABADO,   Author;    E.   CUELLO 

Cal6u,  University  Professor;  MANUEL  Reven- 

I,6s,   Professor  of   the  Escuela  de    Funcionarios ; 

J.  Farran  Mayoral,  Author;   Jaime  Mass6 

Torrents,    Member    of   the    Institute ;    JORGE 

RUBIO  Balaguer,  Director  of  the  Biblioteca  de 

Cataluna. 

Translated  from  the  Spanish  by  R.  R. 

Journal  de  Geneve^  January  9,  191 5. 


125 


X 


FOR  EUROPE 

AN   APPEAL   FROM   HOLLAND   TO    THE   INTELLECTUALS  OF 
ALL  NATIONS 

In  a  recent  article,  in  which  I  put  before  the 
readers  of  the  Journal  de  Geneve  the  fine  mani- 
festo of  the  Catalonian  intellectuals  "  For  the 
Moral  Unity  of  Europe,"  I  stated  that  after  this 
appeal  from  the  Mediterranean  South  I  would 
make  known  those  of  the  North.  Amongst  the 
latter  here  is  the  voice  of  Holland  : — 

The  Nederlandsche  Anti-Oorlog  Road  (Dutch 
Anti-War  Council)  is  perhaps  the  most  important 
attempt  that  these  last  months  has  seen  to  unify 
pacifist  thought.  Whilst  recognising  the  value  of 
what  has  been  done  for  some  years  past  in  favour 
of  peace,  the  N.A.O.R.  is  convinced  that  "  all  this 
work  could  have  been  much  more  effective,  and 
could  even  have  prevented  the  present  catas- 
trophe, if  it  had  been  better  taken  in  hand." 
There  has  been  lack  of  co-operation,  wastage  of 
126 


For  Europe  (Holland) 

energy,  lack  of  penetration  to  the  mass  of  the 
people.  The  problem  is  to  discover  if  this  internal 
defect  cannot  be  remedied.  "  Will  the  world-wide 
tragedy  of  rivalry  continue  even  inside  the  pacifist 
movement,  or  will  this  war  teach  those  who  are 
fighting  against  it  the  necessity  of  an  energetic 
organization  and  preparation  ?  " 

To  this  task  the  N.A.O.R.  is  devoting  itself. 
Founded  on  October  8,  19 14,  it  had  suc- 
ceeded by  January  15th  in  securing  the  adhesion 
of  350  Dutch  societies  (oflScial,  political,  of  all 
parties,  religious,  intellectual,  labour),  and  its  mani- 
festoes brought  together  the  signatures  of  more 
than  a  hundred  of  the  most  illustrious  names 
of  the  Netherlands — statesmen,  prelates,  officers, 
writers,  professors,  artists,  business  men,  etc.  It 
therefore  represents  a  considerable  moral  force. 

Let  it  be  said  at  once  that  the  N.A.O.R.  does 
not  look  for  an  immediate  end  of  the  war  by  a 
peace  at  any  price.  On  the  one  hand,  it  declares 
itself  "  it  has  formed  no  presumptuous  idea  of  its 
strength ;  it  has  no  naive  confidence  in  vague 
peace  formulae,  nor  even  in  well-defined  mutual 
obligations.  The  universal  war  of  to-day  has,  alas  ! 
taught  it  much  in  this  respect  also."  And,  more- 
over, it  is  quite  aware  that  a  peace  at  any  price, 
under  present  conditions,  would  only  be  a  conse- 
127 


Above  the  Battle 

cration  of  injustice.  The  great  public  meetings 
which  it  has  organised  on  December  1 5th  in  the 
chief  towns  of  the  Netherlands  have  unanimously 
declared  that  such  a  peace  seemed  neither 
possible  nor  even  desirable.  I  will  add  that 
certain  of  the  articles  of  the  N.A.O.R.  suggest, 
with  all  the  reserve  necessitated  by  its  attitude 
of  neutrality  and  its  profound  desire  for  impar- 
tiality, the  direction  of  its  suppressed  sympathies. 
Especially  the  following : — 

•'  To  repair  the  harm  done  by  this  war  to  the 
prestige  of  law  in  international  relations.  To 
bow  before  the  law,  whether  customary  or  codified 
in  treaties  is  a  duty,  even  where  sanction  is  want- 
ing. Reform  will  be  in  vain :  if  there  is  not 
respect  for  law,  and  nations  refuse  to  keep  their 
word,  a  durable  peace  is  out  of  the  question." 

The  object  of  the  N.A.O.R.  is  especially  to 
study  the  conditions  in  which  we  can  realise  a 
just,  humane,  and  durable  peace,  which  will  secure 
for  Europe  a  long  future  of  fruitful  tranquillity 
and  of  common  work,  and  to  interest  the  public 
opinion  of  all  nations  in  securing  such  a  peace. 
I  cannot  analyse  here,  owing  to  lack  of  space,  the 
various  public  manifestoes,  the  Appeal  to  the  People 
of  Holland  (October  1914),  or  the  Appeal  for 
Co-operation  and  the  Preparation  of  Peace,  a  kind 
128 


For  Europe  (Holland) 

of  attempt  to  mobilise  the  pacifist  armies  (Novem- 
ber). The  latter  of  these  contains  ideas  which 
agree  in  many  cases  with  those  of  the  Union  of 
Democratic  Control  (the  abolition  of  secret  diplo- 
macy, and  a  larger  control  of  foreign  affairs  by 
Parliaments ;  the  prohibition  of  special  armament 
industries ;  the  establishment  of  the  elementary 
principle  of  international  law,  that  no  country 
shall  be  annexed  without  the  consent,  freely 
expressed,  of  the  population).  I  will  content 
myself  here  with  publishing  the  manifesto  ad- 
dressed to  the  thinkers,  writers,  artists,  and 
scientists  of  all  nations.  In  this  manifesto  we 
shall  find  support  for  the  tasks  which  we  our- 
selves have  undertaken  in  working  to  keep  the 
thought  of  Europe  sheltered  from  the  ravages  of 
the  war,  and  in  continually  recalling  it  to  the 
recognition  of  its  highest  duty,  which  is,  even  in 
the  worst  storms  of  passion,  to  safeguard  the 
spiritual  unity  of  civilized  humanity. 

R.  R. 

February  7,  1915. 

NEDERLANDSCHE    ANTI-OORLOG 
RAAD 

Immediately    after    the     European     war    had 
broken    out,   several    groups   of   intellectuals   be- 
129  I 


Above  the  Battle 

longing  to  the  warring  nations  have  advocated 
the  justice  of  their  country's  cause  in  manifes- 
toes and  pamphlets,  which  they  have  scattered 
in  great  numbers  throughout  the  neutral  states.^ 
And  this  still  goes  on ;  side  by  side  with  the 
war  of  the  sword  a  no  less  vehement  war  is 
carried  on  with  the  pen. 

Those  writings  have  also  reached  us,  the 
undersigned,  all  subjects  of  a  neutral  state.  We 
have  read  them  with  the  greatest  interest,  as 
they  enable  us  to  form  a  clear  opinion  not  only 
of  the  frame  of  mind  brought  about  by  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  among  the  intellectuals  of 
the  warring  nations,  but  also  of  the  opinions 
they  hold  about  the  causes  and  the  nature  of 
the  present  war. 

It  has  not  surprised  us  neutrals  to  see  that 
the  spokesmen  of  the  opposing  nations  are 
equally  convinced  of  the  justice  of  their  cause. 
Neither  has  it  surprised  us  that  those  spokes- 
men evince  such  a  strong  inclination  to  advocate 
their  rights  before  the  neutral  states.  Indeed,  in 
such  a  terrible  struggle  it  is  a  psychologic 
necessity    for    all    the    nations    concerned    that 

'  The  famous  "Appeal  to  the  Civilised  Nations"  had 
been  sent  out  shortly  before  this  by  the  ninety-three  German 
intellectuals. 

130 


For  Europe   (Holland) 

they  should  believe  implicitly  in  the  justice  of 
their  cause  ;  they  must  ardently  desire  to  testify 
to  their  faith  before  others.  Only  an  unshak- 
able confidence  in  the  absolute  justice  of  their 
cause  can  keep  them  from  wavering  or  despairing 
during  the  gigantic  struggle. 

But  we  have  perceived  with  great  sorrow  that 
the  greater  part  of  those  writings  are  absolutely 
lacking  in  the  slightest  effort  to  be  just  towards 
opponents ;  that  the  meanest  and  most  malicious 
motives  are  ascribed  to  them. 

We  respect  the  conviction  of  every  one  of  the 
warring  nations  that  they  are  fighting  for  a  just 
cause.  Even  if  we  should  have  formed  an 
opinion  about  the  origin  of  the  war,  we  should 
yet  not  think  the  present  a  fit  moment  to  oppose 
different  opinions  or  arguments  to  each  other. 
This  should  be  the  work  of  the  future,  when 
scientific  research  will  be  able  to  consider  all  the 
facts  quietly,  when  national  passions  will  have 
subsided  and  the  nations  will  listen  with  more 
composure  to  the  verdict  of  history. 

Yet  we  think  it  our  duty  and  we  consider  it 
a  privilege  given  to  us  as  neutrals  to  utter  a 
serious  warning  against  the  systematic  rousing 
of  a  lasting  bitterness  between  the  now  warring 
parties. 

131 


Above  the  Battle 

Though  fully  aware  that  the  late  events  have 
irritated  the  feeling  of  nationality  to  the  utmost, 
yet  we  believe  that  patriotism  should  not  prevent 
any  one  from  doing  justice  to  the  character  of 
one's  enemy  ;  that  faith  in  the  virtues  of  one's 
own  nation  need  not  be  coupled  with  the  idea 
that  all  vices  are  inherent  in  the  opposing  nation  ; 
that  confidence  in  the  justice  of  one's  own  cause 
should  not  make  one  forget  that  the  other  side 
cherishes  that  conviction  with  the  same  energy. 

Besides,  no  one  should  forget  that  the  question  : 
"  What  nations  will  be  enemies  ? "  depends  on 
political  relations,  which  vary  according  to  un- 
expected circumstances.  To-day's  enemy  may 
be  to-morrow's  friend. 

The  tone,  in  which  of  late  not  only  the  papers 
to  which  we  referred  higher  up,  but  also  the 
newspaper-press  of  the  warring  nations  has 
written  about  the  enemy  threatens  to  arouse 
and  to  perpetuate  the  bitterest  hatred. 

To  the  evils  directly  resulting  from  the  war, 
will  be  added  the  regrettable  consequence  that 
co-operation  between  the  belligerent  nations  in 
art,  science,  and  all  other  labours  of  peace  will 
be  delayed  for  some  time,  nay,  even  made 
quite  impossible.  Yet  the  time  will  come  after 
this  war,  when  the  nations  will  have  to  resume 
132 


For  Europe  (Holland) 

some    form    of    intercourse,    social    as    well    as 
spiritual. 

The  fewer  fierce  accusations  have  been  breathed 
on  either  side,  the  less  one  nation  has  attacked 
the  character  of  the  other :  in  short,  the  less 
lasting  bitterness  has  been  roused,  so  much  the 
easier  will  it  be  afterwards  to  take  up  again  the 
broken  threads  of  international  intercourse. 

This  rousing  of  hatred  and  bitterness  is  also 
an  impediment  in  the  way  that  leads  our  thoughts 
towards  peace. 

Every  one  who  in  word  or  writing  rails  at 
the  enemy  or  excites  national  passions  is  respon- 
sible for  the  longer  duration  of  this  horrible  war. 

Therefore,  we  the  undersigned,  appeal  to  all 
those  of  the  same  mind,  especially  among  those 
belonging  to  the  warring  nations,  to  co-operate 
for  this  purpose :  that  in  word  and  writing 
everything  be  avoided  that  may  rouse  lasting 
animosity. 

We  especially  address  this  appeal  to  those 
who  influence  public  opinion  in  their  own  country, 
to  men  of  science  and  to  artists,  to  those  who 
long  ago  have  realised  that  in  all  civilised 
countries  there  are  men  and  women  with  the 
same  notions  of  justice  and  morality  as  they 
have  themselves. 

133 


Above  the  Battle 

May  the  representatives  of  all  countries — 
according  to  the  saying  of  a  Dutch  statesman 
— remember  what  unites  them  and  not  only 
what  separates  them ! 

Signed :  —  H.-C.  Dresselhuys,  Secretary- 
General  of  the  Ministry  of  Justice,  President  of 
the  N.A.O.R.  J.-H.  Schaper,  member  of  the 
Second  Chamber,  Vice-President.  Madame  M. 
Asser-Thorbeke,  secretary  of  the  Dutch 
League  for  Women's  Suffrage.  Professor  Dr. 
D.  VAN  Embden,  Professor  of  the  law  at 
Amsterdam.  Dr.  KoOLEN,  member  of  the 
Second  Chamber.  V.-H.  Rutgers,  member  of 
the  Second  Chamber.  Baron  de  JONG  van 
Beek  en  Donk,  Secretary  of  the  N.A.O.R. 
(and  also  subscribed  to  by  130  politicians, 
intellectuals,  and  artists,  including  Frederik  van 
Eeden,  Willem  Mengelberg,  etc.).  Bureau  : 
Theresiastraat,  51,  The  Hague. 

Journal  de  Geneve^  February  15,  1911;. 


134 


XI 

LETTER  TO  FREDERIK  VAN  EEDEN 

January  12,  191 5. 

My  dear  Friend, 

You  offer  me  the  hospitality  of  your 
paper  De  Amsterdmnmer,  I  thank  you  and 
accept.  It  is  good  to  take  one's  stand  with  those 
free  souls  who  resist  the  unrestrained  fury  of 
national  passions.  In  this  hideous  struggle,  with 
which  the  conflicting  peoples  are  rending  Europe, 
let  us  at  least  preserve  our  flag,  and  rally  round 
that.  We  must  re-create  European  opinion.  That 
is  our  first  duty.  Among  these  millions  who  are 
only  conscious  of  being  Germans,  Austrians, 
Frenchmen,  Russians,  English,  etc.,  let  us  strive 
to  be  men,  who,  rising  above  the  selfish  aims  of 
short-lived  nations,  do  not  loose  sight  of  the 
interests  of  civilisation  as  a  whole — that  civilisa- 
tion which  each  race  mistakenly  identifies  with 
its  own,  to  destroy  that  of  the  others.  I  wish 
your  noble  country,*  which  has  always  preserved 
'  Holland. 


Above  the  Battle 

its  political  and  moral  independence  among  the 
great  surrounding  states,  could  become  the  heart 
of  this  ideal  Europe  we  believe  in — the  hearth 
round  which  shall  gather  all  those  who  seek  to 
rebuild  her. 

Everywhere  there  are  men  who  think  thus 
though  they  are  unknown  one  to  another.  Let 
us  get  to  know  them.  Let  us  bring  together  each 
and  all.  Here  I  would  introduce  to  you  two 
important  groups,  one  from  the  North  and  one 
from  the  South — the  Catalonian  thinkers  who 
have  formed  the  society  of  Amis  de  VUniti 
Morale  de  rEurope  at  Barcelona — I  send  you 
their  fine  appeal :  and  the  Union  of  Democratic 
Control  founded  in  London  and  inspired  by 
indignation  against  this  European  war,  and  by 
the  firm  determination  to  render  it  impossible 
for  the  diplomatists  and  militarists  to  inaugurate 
another.  I  am  having  the  programmes  and  the 
first  publications  sent  to  you.  This  Union,  whose 
general  Council  contains  members  of  Parliament, 
and  authors  like  Norman  Angell,  Israel  Zangwill, 
and  Vernon  Lee,  has  already  formed  twenty 
branches  in  towns  in  Great  Britain. 

Let  us  try  and  unite  permanently  all  such 
organisations,  though  each  has  its  racial  charac- 
teristics and  peculiarities,  for  all  aim  at  re-estab- 
136 


Letter  to  Frederik  Van  Eeden 

lishing  the  peace  of  Europe  as  best  they  may. 
With  them  let  us  take  stock  of  our  united 
resources.     Then  we  can  act. 

* 

What  shall  we  do  ?  Try  to  put  an  end  to  the 
struggle  ?  It  is  no  use  thinking  of  that  now. 
The  brute  is  loose  ;  and  the  Governments  have 
succeeded  so  well  in  spreading  hatred  and  violence 
abroad  that  even  if  they  wished  they  could  not 
bring  it  back  again  into  control.  The  damage 
is  irreparable.  It  is  possible  that  the  neutral 
countries  of  Europe  and  the  United  States  of 
America  may  decide  one  day  to  interfere,  and' 
endeavour  to  put  an  end  to  a  war  which,  if  it 
continued  indefinitely,  would  threaten  to  ruin 
them  as  well  as  the  belligerents.  But  I  do  not 
know  what  one  must  expect  from  this  too  tardy 
intervention. 

In  any  case  I  see  another  outlet  for  our  activity. 
Let  the  war  be  what  it  may — we  can  no  longer 
intervene  ;  but  at  least  we  must  try  to  make  the 
scourge  productive  of  as  little  evil  and  as  much 
good  as  possible.  And  in  order  to  do  this  we 
must  get  public  opinion  all  the  world  over  to  see 
to  it  that  the  peace  of  the  future  shall  be  just,  that 
the  greed  of  the  conqueror  (whoever  it  may  be) 

^37 


Above  the  Battle 

and  the  intrigues  of  diplomacy,  do  not  make  it 
the  seed  of  a  new  war  of  revenge ;  and  that  the 
moral  crimes  committed  in  the  past  are  not 
repeated  or  allowed  to  stain  yet  darker  the  record 
of  humanity.  That  is  why  I  hold  the  first  article 
of  the  Union  of  Democratic  Control  as  a  sacred 
principle  :  "  No  Province  shall  be  transferred  from 
one  Government  to  another  without  the  consent 
by  plebiscite  of  the  population  of  such  province." 
We  must  oppose  those  odious  maxims  which 
have  weighed  too  long  on  the  populations  they 
enslave  and  which  quite  recently  Professor  Lasson 
dared  to  repeat  as  a  threat  for  the  future,  in  his 
cynical  Catechism  of  Force  {Das  Kulturtdeal  und 
der  Krieg).^ 

And  this  principle  must  be  proposed  and 
adopted  at  once  without  any  delay.  If  we  waited 
to  announce  it  until — the  war  being  over — the 
congress  of  the  Powers  were  assembled,  we  should 
be  suspected  of  wishing  to  make  justice  serve  the 
interest  of  the  conquered.  It  is  now,  when  the 
forces  of  the  two  sides  are  equal,  that  we  must 

'  "To  let  a  people,"  he  said,  "or  still  more  a  fraction  of  a 
people,  decide  international  questions,  for  instance,  which 
state  shall  control  them,  is  as  good  as  making  the  children 
of  a  house  vote  for  their  father.  It  is  the  most  ridiculous 
fallacy  that  human  wit  has  ever  invented." 

138 


Letter  to  Frederik  Van  Eeden 

establish  this  primordial  right  which   soars   over 
all  the  armies. 

From  this  principle  we  can  deduce  an  im- 
mediate application.  Since  the  whole  of  Europe 
is  disorganised  let  us  profit  by  it  to  set  in  order 
this  untidy  house !  For  a  long  time  injustices 
have  been  accumulating.  The  moment  of  settling 
the  general  account  will  be  an  opportunity  of 
rectifying  them.  The  duty  of  all  of  us  who  feel 
for  the  brotherhood  of  mankind  is  to  stand  for 
the  rights  of  the  small  nations.  There  are  some 
in  both  camps :  Schleswig,  Alsace,  Lorraine, 
Poland,  the  Baltic  nations,  Armenia,  the  Jewish 
people.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  Russia  made 
some  generous  promises.  We  have  registered 
them  in  our  minds  ;  let  her  not  forget  them  !  We 
are  as  determined  about  Poland,  torn  by  the 
claws  of  three  imperial  eagles,  as  we  are  about 
Belgium  crucified.  We  remember  all.  It  is 
because  our  fathers,  obsessed  by  their  narrow 
realism  and  by  selfish  fears,  let  the  rights  of  the 
people  of  Eastern  Europe  be  violated,  that  to-day 
the  West  is  shattered,  and  the  sword  hangs  over 
the  small  nations,  over  you,  my  friends,  as  over 
the  country  which  is  befriending  me,  Switzerland. 
Whoever  harms  one  of  us  harms  all  the  others. 
Let  us  unite !  Above  all  race  questions,  which 
139 


Above  the  Battle 

are  for  the  most  part  a  mask  behind  which  pride 
crouches  and  the  interests  of  the  financial  or 
aristocratic  classes  dissemble,  there  is  a  law  of 
humanity,  eternal  and  universal,  of  which  we  are 
all  the  servants  and  guardians ;  it  is  that  of  the 
right  of  a  people  to  rule  themselves.  And  he 
who  violates  shall  be  the  enemy  of  all. 

R.  R. 

De  Amsterdatnmer  Weckblad  voor  Nederland,  January 
24,  191 5. 


140 


XII 


OUR  NEIGHBOUR  THE  ENEMY 

March  15,  191 5. 
While  the  war  tempest  rages,  uprooting  the 
strongest  souls  and  dragging  them  along  in  its 
furious  cyclone,  I  continue  my  humble  pilgrimage, 
trying  to  discover  beneath  the  ruins  the  rare 
hearts  who  have  remained  faithful  to  the  old  ideal 
of  human  fraternity.  What  a  sad  joy  I  have  in 
collecting  and  helping  them  ! 

I  know  that  each  of  their  efforts — like  mine, — 
that  each  of  their  words  of  love,  rouses  and  turns 
against  them  the  hostility  of  the  two  hostile  camps. 
The  combatants,  pitted  against  each  other,  agree 
in  hating  those  who  refuse  to  hate.  Europe  is 
like  a  besieged  town.  Fever  is  raging.  Whoever 
will  not  rave  like  the  rest  is  suspected.  And  in 
these  hurried  times  when  justice  cannot  wait  to 
study  evidence,  every  suspect  is  a  traitor.  Who- 
ever insists,  in  the  midst  of  war,  on  defending 
141 


Above  the  Battle 

peace  among  men  knows  that  he  risks  his  own 
peace,  his  reputation,  his  friends,  for  his  belief. 
But  of  what  value  is  a  belief  for  which  no  risks 
are  run? 

Certainly  it  is  put  to  the  test  in  these  days, 
when  every  day  brings  the  echo  of  violence, 
injustice,  and  new  cruelties.  But  was  it  not  still 
more  tried  when  it  was  entrusted  to  the  fishermen 
of  Judea  by  him  whom  humanity  pretends  to 
honour  still — with  its  lips  more  than  with  its 
heart  ?  The  rivers  of  blood,  the  burnt  towns, 
all  the  atrocities  of  thought  and  action,  will  never 
efface  in  our  tortured  souls  the  luminous  track  of 
the  Galilean  barque,  nor  the  deep  vibrations  of 
the  great  voices  which  from  across  the  centuries 
proclaim  reason  as  man's  true  home.  You  choose 
to  forget  them,  and  to  say  (like  many  writers  of 
to-day)  that  this  war  will  begin  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  mankind,  a  reversal  of  former  values, 
and  that  from  it  alone  will  future  progress  be 
dated.  That  is  always  the  language  of  passion. 
Passion  passes  away.  Reason  remains — reason 
and  love.  Let  us  continue  to  search  for  their 
young  shoots  amidst  the  bloody  ruins. 

I  feel  the  same  joy  when  I  find  the  fragile  and 
valiant  flowers  of  human  pity  piercing  the  icy 
crust  of  hatred   that   covers   Europe,   as   we   feel 

142 


Our  Neighbour  the  Enemy 

in  these  chilly  March  days  when  we  see  the  first 
flowers  appear  above  the  soil.  They  show  that 
the  warmth  of  life  persists  below  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  that  fraternal  love  persists  below  the 
surface  of  the  nations,  and  that  soon  nothing  will 
prevent  it  rising  again. 

I  have  on  several  occasions  shown  how  the 
neutral  countries  hare  become  the  refuge  of  this 
European  spirit,  which  seems  driven  from  the 
belligerent  countries  by  the  armies  of  the  pen, 
more  savage  than  the  others  because  they  risk 
nothing.  The  efforts  made  in  Holland  or  in 
Spain  to  save  the  moral  unity  of  Europe,  the 
burning  charity  and  untiring  help  that  Switzerland 
lavishes  on  prisoners,  on  wounded,  on  victims  of 
both  sides,  are  a  great  comfort  to  oppressed  souls, 
who  in  every  country  are  suffocating  in  the 
atmosphere  of  hatred  forced  on  them,  and  who 
look  for  purer  air.  But  I  find  still  more  beautiful 
and  touching  the  signs  of  fraternal  aid  between 
friends  and  enemies  in  belligerent  countries, 
however  rare  and  feeble  they  may  be. 

If  there  are  two  countries  between  which  the 
present  war  seems  specially  to  have  created  an 
abyss  of  hatred  and  misunderstanding,  they  are 
England  and  Germany.  The  writers  and  pub- 
licists of  Germany,  whose  orders  are  to  profess 
143 


Above  the  Battle 

for  France  rather  sympathy  and  compassion 
than  animosity,  and  who  are  even  constrained  to 
distinguish  between  the  people  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  Russia,  have  vowed  eternal  hatred 
against  England.  Hasse  England  has  become 
their  Delenda  Carthago.  The  most  moderate 
declare  that  the  struggle  cannot  be  ended  ex- 
cept by  the  destruction  of  the  Seeherrschaft 
(naval  supremacy)  of  Britain.  And  Great  Britain 
is  not  less  determined  to  continue  the  conflict 
until  German  militarism  has  been  totally  eradi- 
cated. Yet  it  is  precisely  between  these  two 
nations  that  the  noblest  bonds  of  mutual  assist- 
ance for  the  misfortunes  of  the  enemy  have  been 
formed  and  maintained. 

Two  days  after  the  declaration  of  war  there 
was  founded  in  London  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  by  well  known  persons,  such  as 
J.  Allen-Baker,  M.P.,  the  Right-Hon.  W.  H. 
Dickinson,  M.P.,  Lord  and  Lady  Courtney  of 
Penwith,  the  Emergency  Cotmnittee  for  the  Assist- 
ance of  Germans f  Austrians,  and  Hungarians  in 
Distress.  This  work,  which  affects  a  large  part 
of  England,  consists  in  paying  the  repatriation 
expenses  of  destitute  civilians,  of  accompanying 
German  women  and  girls  on  their  return  jour- 
ney, of  securing  hospitality  in  families  for  poor 
144 


Our  Neighbour  the  Enemy 

Germans  and  finding  work  for  them.  By  the 
end  of  December  almost  ;^  10,000  had  been 
spent  in  this  way.  Several  sub-committees 
visit  Prisoners'  Camps,  facilitate  correspondence 
between  the  belligerent  nations,  or  undertake, 
for  Christmas,  to  convey  to  interned  alien 
enemies  more  than  20,000  parcels  and  200 
Christmas-trees.  Another  English  society,  already 
in  existence  before  the  war,  the  Society  of 
Friends  of  Foreigners  in  Distress,  regularly  looks 
after  1,800  German  and  Austrian  families. 
Finally,  the  Central  Bureau  (London)  of  the 
International  Union  of  Women  Suffrage  Societies 
has  rendered  great  service  to  foreigners,  paying 
for  the  return  journey  of  between  seven  and 
eight  thousand  women. 

In  Germany  there  has  been  founded  at  Berlin 
a  similar  Bureau  for  giving  information  and 
assistance  to  Germans  abroad,  and  to  foreigners 
in  GermdiX^y  {Auskunfts-und Hilfsstelle  fiir  Deutsche 
im  Ausla7id  und  Auslcsnder  in  Deutschland). 
Amongst  its  members  may  be  noted  aristo- 
cratic names,  and  persons  well  known  in  the 
religious  and  academic  world  :  Frau  Marie  von 
Biilow-Moerlins,  Helene  Graefin  Harrach,  Nora 
Freiin  von  Schleinitz,  Professors  W.  Foerster, 
D.  Baumgarten,  Paul  Natorp,  Martin  Rade, 
145  K 


Above  the  Battle 

Siegmund-Schultze,  etc.  At  its  head  is  a  lady 
of  deep  religious  feeling,  Dr.  Elisabeth  Rotten. 
As  will  be  readily  imagined,  an  undertaking  of 
this  kind  has  not  failed  to  evoke  suspicion  and 
opposition  in  nationalist  quarters.  But  it  has 
emerged  successful,  and  persists  ;  and  here  are 
the  terms  in  which  it  justifies  its  high  mission 
against  the  ravings  of  German  Chauvinism : 

"Since  the  beginning  of  the  war  we  have 
recognised  the  obligation  to  interest  ourselves  in 
the  welfare  of  foreigners  stranded  in  Germany. 
Efforts  such  as  ours  are  as  unpopular  in  our 
country  as  in  other  countries.  At  a  time  when 
the  whole  German  people  is  engaged  in  resist- 
ing the  enemy,  it  seems  superfluous  to  render 
to  those  who  belong  to  foreign  countries  more 
than  minimum  services  to  which  they  are 
legally  entitled.  But  it  is  not  only  the  thought 
of  our  kinsmen  abroad  which  urges  us  to  this 
work,  it  is  our  own  desire  to  render  friendly 
service  {Freundendienste)  to  those  who,  through 
no  fault  of  their  own,  are  in  difficulties  because 
of  the  war.  Even  in  war  time,  our  neighbour  is 
he  who  is  in  need  of  our  help  ;  and  love  for 
one's  enemy  {Feindesliebe)  remains  a  sign  whereby 
those  who  retain  their  faith  in  the  Lord  may 
recognise  one  another.  ... 
146 


\- 


Our  Neighbour  the  Enemy 

"We  have  been  able  to  reassure  German  families 
as  to  the  lot  of  their  members  in  enemy  countries, 
and  in  return  to  vouch  to  foreigners  for  the 
fact  that  their  friends  in  our  country  will  be 
able  to  rely  on  us  for  assistance  if  they  need 
it.  We  have  been  able  to  help  as  neighbours 
{Naechstendienste)  innocent  enemies,  in  whom 
we  see  human  brothers  and  sisters.  Above 
and  beyond  this  practical  aid,  we  find  conso- 
lation and  comfort  in  being  able  freely  to 
hearken,  even  in  such  times  as  these,  to  the 
voice  of  humanity,  and  to  the  command  "love 
thy  neighbour."  The  tragedy  which  bursts  over 
the  earth  on  every  side,  which  fills  all  our  being 
with  a  religious  respect  for  human  suffering,  but 
also  stirs  our  love  and  self-sacrifice,  enlarges  our 
hearts  and  leaves  no  room  except  for  feelings 
of  affirmation  and  benevolent  action. 

"  Our  desire  to  help  and  to  alleviate  suffering 
knows  no  frontiers.  This  need  is  all  the  more 
urgent  when  we  find  in  the  sufferings  of  others 
the  traits  of  what  we  ourselves  also  suffer.  What 
unites  men  goes  deeper  into  our  being  than 
what  separates  them.  That  we  can  tend  the 
wounds  that  we  are  constrained  to  deal,  and  that 
the  same  is  the  case  in  the  enemy's  country, 
gives    promise   of  the    brighter    days    which  will 

147 


Above  the  Battle 

come.  In  the  midst  of  the  tempest  which 
destroys  all  around  us  so  many  things  which 
we  consider  worthy  of  eternal  existence,  the 
possibility  of  such  action  strengthens  our  courage 
and  gives  us  hope  that  new  bridges  will  be 
rebuilt,  on  which  the  men,  who  now  find  them- 
selves separated,  will  once  more  be  closely  united 
in  a  common  effort." 

I  dedicate  these  noble  words  to  my  friends 
amongst  the  people  of  France,  who  have  so 
often,  by  letter  or  by  message,  declared  to  me 
their  sympathy  for  such  thoughts  and  their 
unchanging  faith  in  humanity.  I  dedicate  them 
to  all  in  France  who,  even  in  these  days,  by 
their  justice  and  goodness  contribute  to  make 
their  country  loved,  as  much  as  she  makes  herself 
admired  by  her  arms — to  those  who  assure  her 
of  the  name  which  I  read  with  emotion  on  a 
postcard  written  yesterday,  on  his  way  to 
Geneva,  by  a  badly  wounded  German  who  had 
been  repatriated  :  the  name  of  gutes  Frankreich, 
"good  France,"  or,  as  our  tender-hearted  old 
writers  used  to  say,  *'  Douce  France." 

R.  R. 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  recommending  to 
my    French    readers    the    publication    of    Mme. 

148 


Our  Neighbour  the  Enemy 

Arthur  Spitzer  (Geneva) :  Le  Paquet  du  prisonnier 
de  guerre.  It  has  contributors  in  Paris,  and  was 
founded  in  November  "to  bring  comfort  in 
their  misery  to  such  French,  Belgians,  and 
English  prisoners  as  cannot  be  assisted  by  their 
families,"  It  begs  all  who  wish  to  send  a  parcel 
to  a  relation  or  friend  who  has  been  taken 
prisoner,  to  send  with  it,  when  possible,  a  similar 
consignment  for  some  other  prisoner — one  of 
their  fellow-countrymen  without  relations,  friends, 
or  resources.  May  this  noble  thought  of  soli- 
darity be  extended  later,  in  more  humane  times, 
so  that  whoever  helps  a  prisoner  belonging  to 
his  own  country  may  be  willing  at  the  same 
time  to  help  an  enemy  prisoner  ! 

R.  R. 

Journal  de  Geneve,  March  15,  19 15. 


149 


XIII 

A   LETTER  TO  SVENSKA   DAGBLADET  OF 
STOCKHOLM  ' 

The  European  thought  of  to-morrow  is  with  the 
armies.  The  furious  intellectuals  in  one  camp 
and  the  other  who  insult  one  another  do  not 
represent  it  at  all.  The  voice  of  the  peoples  who 
will  return  from  the  war,  after  having  experienced 
the  terrible  reality,  will  send  back  into  the  silence 
of  obscurity  these  men  who  have  revealed  them- 
selves as  unworthy  to  be  spiritual  guides  of  the 
human  race.  Amongst  those  who  thus  retire 
more  than  one  St.  Peter  will  then  hear  the  cock 
crow,  and  will  weep  saying,  "  Lord,  I  have  denied 
thee ! " 

'  The  Svenska  Dagbladet  sent  to  the  principal  intel- 
lectuals of  Europe  an  inquiry  on  the  subject  of  the  results 
which  the  war  would  have,  "for  international  collaboration, 
in  the  domain  of  the  spirit."  It  asked  "  with  anxiety,  to 
what  extent  it  would  be  possible,  once  peace  was  concluded, 
to  establish  relations  between  the  scientists,  writers,  and 
artists  of  the  different  nations." 
150 


A  Letter  to  Sweden 

The  destinies  of  humanity  will  rise  superior  to 
those  of  all  the  nations.  Nothing  will  be  able  to 
prevent  the  reforming  of  the  bonds  between  the 
thought  of  the  hostile  nations.  Whatever  nation 
should  stand  aside  would  commit  suicide.  For 
by  means  of  these  bonds  the  tide  of  life  is  kept 
in  motion. 

But  they  have  never  been  completely  broken,  \ 
even  at  the  height  of  the  war.  The  war  has  even 
had  the  sad  advantage  of  grouping  together 
throughout  the  universe  the  minds  who  reject 
national  hatred.  It  has  tempered  their  strength, 
it  has  welded  their  wills  into  a  solid  block.  Those  f- 
are  mistaken  who  think  that  the  ideals  of  a  free 
human  fraternity  are  at  present  stifled !  They 
are  but  silent  under  the  gag  of  military  (and  civil) 
dictation  which  reigns  throughout  Europe.  But 
the  gag  will  fall,  and  they  will  burst  forth  with 
explosive  force.  I  am  agonised  by  the  sufferings 
of  millions  of  innocent  victims,  sacrificed  to-day 
on  the  field  of  battle,  but  I  have  no  anxiety  for 
the  future  unity  of  European  society.  It  will  be 
realised  anew.  The  war  of  to-day  is  its  baptism 
of  blood. 

R.  R. 

April  lo,  191 5. 


151 


XIV 

WAR  LITERATURE 

The  intellectuals  on  both  sides  have  been  much 
in  evidence  since  the  beginning  of  the  war ;  they 
have,  indeed,  brought  so  much  violence  and 
passion  to  bear  upon  it,  that  it  might  almost  be 
called  their  war ! 

It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  attention  has  not 
been  sufficiently  drawn  to  the  fact  that,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  it  is  only  the  voice  of  the.  older 
generation  that  has  been  heard — the  voice  of 
Academicians,  and  Professoren,  of  distinguished 
members  of  the  press  and  the  universities,  ot 
poets  of  established  reputations,  and  the  doyens 
of  literature,  art,  and  science. 

As  far  as  France  is  concerned,  the  explanation 
of  this  is  simple :  nearly  all  those  up  to  the  age 
of  forty-eight  who  are  able  to  bear  arms  are  now 
acting  instead  of  talking.  In  Germany  the  situa- 
tion is  rather  different,  since  for  various  reasons, 

IS2 


War  Literature 

which  I  shall  not  attempt  to  elucidate,  much  of 
the  literary  youth  of  the  nation  has  remained  at 
home,  and  continues  to  publish  books.  Even 
those  who  are  at  the  front  contrive  to  send 
articles  and  poems  to  the  Reviews  (for  the  passion 
for  writing  dies  hard  in  Germany). 

It  seems  to  me  to  be  of  importance  to  ascertain 
what  spiritual  currents  are  influencing  the  young 
intellectuals  of  Germany.^ 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  in  all  countries 
the  extremest  views  have  been  expressed  by 
writers  who  have  already  passed  el  mezzo  del 
cant) f lino.  We  shall  attempt  to  find  the  reason 
for  this  at  some  later  date.  At  present  we  are 
content  again  to  verify  this  fact  in  the  case  of 
German  writers.  Almost  all  the  celebrated  and 
acknowledged  poets,  all  those  who  were  rich  in 
years  and  in  honour,  were  swept  off  their  feet  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war.  And  this  fact  is  all 
the  more  curious  because  some  of  them  had  been 
up  to  that  time  the  apostles  of  peace,  of  pity,  and 
of  humanitarianism.  Dehmel,  the  enemy  of  war, 
the  friend  of  all  men,  who  said  that  he  did  not 

'  The  literary  appreciation  of  the  work  cited  is  here 
treated  as  of  secondary  importance,  in  order  that  evidence 
may  be  discovered  with  regard  to  the  thought  of  Germany 


Above  the  Battle 

know  to  which  of  the  ten  nationalities  he  owed 
his  intellect,  is  now  writing  Battle  Songs  {Scklach- 
tenlieder),  and  Songs  of  the  Flag  {Fahnenlieder)^ 
apostrophising  the  enemy,  praising  and  dealing 
death.  (At  the  age  of  fifty-one  he  is  learning  to 
bear  arms,  and  has  enlisted  against  the  Russians.) 
Gerhart  Hauptmann,  whom  Fritz  von  Unruh  calls 
"  the  poet  of  brotherly  love,"  has  shaken  off  his 
neurasthenia,  and  bids  men  "  mow  down  the  grass 
which  drips  with  blood."  Franz  Wedekind  is 
pouring  out  invectives  against  Czarism,  Lissauer 
against  England,  Arno  Holz  is  raving  deliriously. 
Petzold  desires  to  be  in  every  bullet  that  enters 
an  enemy's  heart ;  whilst  Richard  Nordhausen  has 
written  an  Ode  to  a  Howitzer.^ 

At  first  the  younger  writers  as  well  were 
possessed  with  the  same  madness  for  war  ;  but,  in 
contact  with  the  sufferings  they  endured  and 
inflicted,  it  quickly  disappeared.  Fritz  von  Unruh 
enlisted  as  a  Uhlan,  and  left  for  the  front,  crying 
"Paris,  Paris  is  our  goal!"  Since  the  Battle  of 
the  Aisne,  in  September,  he  has  written  "  Der 
Lamm  "  :  "  Lamb  of  God,  I  have  seen  thy  look  of 
suffering.  Give  us  peace  and  rest ;  lead  us  back  to 
the  heaven  of  love,  and  give  us  back  our  dead.'' 

*  See  the  article  of  Josef  Luitpol   Stern,   "Dichter,"  in 
Die  Weiss  en  Bldtter,  March  1915. 

154 


War  Literature 

Rudolf  L^onhard  sang  of  war  at  the  beginning, 
and  is  still  fighting ;  on  re-reading  his  poems 
shortly  afterwards,  he  wrote  on  the  front  page : 
"  These  were  written  during  the  madness  of  the  first 
weeks.  That  madness  has  spent  itself,  and  only  our 
strength  is  left.  We  shall  again  win  control  over 
ourselves  and  love  one  another^  Poets,  hitherto 
unknown,  are  revealed  by  the  cry  of  compassion 
wrung  from  their  anguished  hearts.  To  Andrea 
Fram,  who  has  remained  at  home,  it  is  a  grief 
that  he  does  not  suffer,  whilst  thousands  of  others 
suffer  and  die.  All  thy  love,  and  all  thy  agony,  in 
spite  of  thy  ardent  desire,  avail  not  to  soothe  the  last 
hour  of  a  single  man  who  is  dying  yonder."  Upon 
Ludwig  Marck  each  minute  weighs  like  a  night- 
mare : — 

Menschen  in  Not  .  .  . 

Briider  dir  tot  .  .  . 

Krieg  ist  im  Land  .  .  . 

The  poet  who  writes  under  the  pseudonym  of 
Dr.  Owlglass  proposed  a  new  ideal  for  Germany, 
on  the  seventieth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Nietzsche  (October  1 5th) :  not  the  superman,  but 
at  least — man.  And  Franz  Werfel  realises  this 
ideal  in  poems  thrilling  with  a  mournful  humanity, 
which  takes  part  in  the  sacrament  of  misery  and 
death : 

155 


Above  the  Battle 

"  IVe  are  bound  together  not  only  by  our  com- 
mon words  and  deeds,  but  still  more  by  the  dying 
glance,  the  last  hours,  the  mortal  anguish  of  the 
breaking  heart.  And  whether  you  bow  down  be- 
fore the  tyrant,  or  gaze  trembling  into  the  beloved's 
countenance,  or  mark  down  your  enemy  with  piti- 
less glance,  think  of  the  eye  that  will  grow  dim, 
of  the  failing  breath,  the  parched  lips  and  clenched 
hands,  the  final  solitude,  and  the  brow  that  grows 
moist  in  the  last  agony.  .  .  .  Be  kind.  .  .  .  Ten- 
derness is  wisdom,  kindness  is  reason.  "^  .  .  ,  We 
are  strangers  all  upon  this  earth,  and  die  but  to 
be  reunited."  ^ 

But  the  one  German  poet  who  has  written 
the  serenest  and  loftiest  words,  and  preserved  in 
the  midst  of  this  demoniacal  war  an  attitude 
worthy  of  Goethe,  is  Hermann  Hesse.  He  con- 
tinues to  live  at  Berne,  and,  sheltered  there  from 
the  moral  contagion,  he  has  deliberately  kept 
aloof  from  the  combat.  All  will  remember  his 
noble  article  in  the  Neue  ZUrcher  Zeitung  of 
November  3rd,  "  0  Freunde,  nicht  diese  Tone  !  "  in 
which  he  implored  the  artists  and  thinkers  of 
Europe  "to  save  what  little  peace"  might  yet 
be   saved,  and   not   to   join   with   their   pens   in 

'  Hohe  Gemeinschaft. 

"  Fremde  sind  wir  auf  der  Erde  alle. 

156 


War  Literature 

destroying  the  future  of  Europe.  Since  then  he 
has  written  some  beautiful  poems,  one  of  which, 
an  Invocation  to  Peace,  is  inspired  with  deep 
feeling  and  classical  simplicity,  and  will  find  its 
way  to  many  an  oppressed  heart. 

Jeder  hat's  gehabt 

Keiner  hat's  geschastzt. 

Jeden  hat  der  siisse  Quell  gelabt. 

O  wie  klingt  der  Name  Friede  jetzt ! 

Klingt  so  fern  und  zag, 

Klingt  so  tranenschwer, 

Keiner  weiss  und  kennt  den  Tag, 

Jeder  sehnt  ihn  vol  Verlangen  her.  .  .  . 

("  Each  one  possessed  it,  but  no  one  prized  it. 
Like  a  cool  spring  it  refreshed  us  all.  What  a 
sound  the  word  Peace  has  for  us  now ! 

"Distant  it  sounds,  and  fearful,  and  heavy 
with  tears.  No  one  knows  or  can  name  the  day 
for  which  all  sigh  with  such  longing.") 

«      * 

The  attitude  of  the  younger  reviews  is  curious : 
for  whereas  the  older,  traditional  reviews  (those 
which  correspond  to  our  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes 
or  our  Revue  de  Paris)  are  more  or  less  affected 
by  military  fervour — thus,  for  instance,  the  Neue 
RundscJmUy  which  printed  Thomas  Mann's 
157 


Above  the  Battle 

notorious  vagaries  on  Culture  and  Civilisation 
{Gedanken  im  Kriege) — many  of  the  younger 
ones  affect  a  haughty  detachment  from  actual 
events. 

That  impassive  publication,  Blatter  fur  die 
Kunst,  over  which  broods  the  invisible  per- 
sonality of  Stefan  George,  published  at  the  end 
of  1914  a  volume  of  poems  of  156  pages,  which 
did  not  contain  a  single  line  referring  to  the 
war.  A  note  at  the  end  affirms  that  the  points 
of  view  of  the  various  authors  have  not  changed 
on  account  of  recent  events,  and  anticipates  the 
objection  that  "  this  is  not  the  time  for  poetry," 
by  the  saying  of  Jean  Paul :  "  No  period  has  so 
much  need  of  poetry,  as  the  one  which  thinks 
it  can  do  without  it." 

Die  Aktiotiy  a  vibrating,  audacious  Berlin  re- 
view, with  an  ultra-modern  point  of  view,  totally 
different  from  the  calm  impersonality  of  Blatter 
filr  die  Kunst,  stated  in  its  issue  of  August  15, 
19 14,  that  it  would  not  concern  itself  with  politics, 
but  would  contain  only  literature  and  art.  And 
if  it  finds  room  in  its  literary  columns  for  the 
war  poems  sent  from  the  field  of  battle  by  the 
military  doctors,  Wilhelm  Klemm  and  Hans 
Kock,  it  is  in  consideration  of  their  value  as  art, 
and  not  for  the  vivacity  of  their  patriotic  senti- 
158 


War  Literature 

ments ;  for  it  scoffs  mercilessly  at  the  ridiculous 
bards  of  German  Chauvinism,  at  Heinrich  Vierordt, 
the  author  of  Deutschland,  hasse,  at  the  criminal 
poets  who  stir  up  hatred  with  their  false  stories, 
and  at  Professor  Haeckel.  The  dilettantism  of 
this  review  is  extreme.  Its  weekly  issues  contain 
translations  from  the  French  of  Andrd  Gide, 
P^guy,  and  Leon  Bloy,  and  reproductions  of  the 
works  of  Daumier,  Delacroix,  Cezanne,  Matisse, 
and  R.  de  la  Fresnaye :  (cubism  flourishes  in  this 
Berlin  review).  The  issue  of  October  24th  is 
devoted  to  Peguy,  and  contains,  as  frontispiece, 
Egon  Schiele's  portrait  of  the  man,  who  is 
honoured  by  Franz  Pfemfert,  the  editor,  as  "  the 
purest  and  most  vigorous  moral  force  in  French 
literature  of  to-day."  Let  us  hasten  to  add, 
however,  that,  as  is  often  the  case  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Rhine,  they  are  carried  away  by  their 
zeal  in  deploring  his  death  as  of  one  of  their 
countrymen,  and  in  proclaiming  themselves  his 
heirs.  But  the  pride  which  admires  is  at  least 
superior  to  the  pride  which  disparages. 

The  most  important  of  these  young  reviews  is 
Die  Weissen  Blatter  ;  important  on  account  of  the 
variety  of  questions  it  deals  with,  and  the  value 
and  number  of  its  contributors,  as  well  as  for  the 
broad-mindedness  of  its  editor — Rene  Schickele. 
159 


Above  the  Battle 

An  Alsatian  by  birth,  he  belongs  to  those  who 
feel  most  acutely  the  bitterness  of  the  present 
struggle.  After  an  interval  of  three  months  Die 
Weissen  Blatter^  which  almost  corresponds  to  our 
Nouvelle  Revue  Fratt^aise^  reappeared  in  January 
last  with  the  following  declaration,  akin  to  that 
of  the  Revue  des  Nations,  at  Berne  :  "  It  seems 
good  to  us  to  begin  the  work  of  reconstruction,  in 
the  midst  of  the  war,  and  to  aid  in  preparing  for 
the  victory  of  the  spirit.  The  community  of  Europe 
is  at  present  apparently  destroyed.  Is  it  not  the 
duty  of  all  of  us  who  are  not  bearing  arms,  to  live 
from  to-day  onwards  according  to  the  dictates  of  our 
conscience,  as  it  will  be  the  duty  of  every  German 
when  once  the  war  is  over  ?  " 

By  the  side  of  these  disinterested  manifestoes 
about  actual  politics,  appear  lengthy  historical 
novels  ( Tycho  Brahi  by  Max  Brod)  and  satirical 
comedies  by  Carl  Sternheim,  who  continues  to 
scourge  the  upper  classes  of  German  society,  and 
the  capitalists,  for  Die  Weissen  Blatter  is  open  to 
all  questions  of  the  day.  But  in  spite  of  the 
actual  differences  which  must  necessarily  exist 
between  a  German  and  a  French  review,  we 
cannot  but  point  out  the  frankly  hostile  attitude 
of  these  writers  to  all  the  excesses  of  Chauvinism. 
The  articles  of  Max  Scheler,  "  Europe  and  the 
i6o 


War  Literature 

War,"  show  an  impartial  attitude  which  is  entirely 
praiseworthy.  The  review  opens  its  columns  to 
the  loyal  Annette  Kolb,  who,  as  the  daughter  of 
a  German  father  and  of  a  French  mother,  suffers 
keenly  in  this  conflict  between  the  parts  of  her 
nature,  and  has  lately  raised  a  tempest  in  Dresden, 
where  in  a  public  lecture  she  had  the  courage  to 
admit  her  fidelity  to  both  sides,  and  to  express 
her  regret  that  Germany  should  fail  to  understand 
France.  In  the  February  number,  under  the 
title  "  Ganz  niedrich  haengen ! "  there  appeared  a 
violent  repudiation  of  the  Krieg  mit  dem  Maul 
(the  war  of  tongues)  ;  "  If  journalists  hope  to 
inspire  courage  by  insulting  the  enemy,  they  are 
mistaken — we  refuse  such  stimulants.  We  dare 
to  maintain  our  opinion,  that  the  humblest  volunteer 
of  the  enemy,  who  from  an  unreasoned  but  exalted 
sentiment  of  patriotism,  fires  upon  us  from  an 
ambush,  knowing  well  what  he  risks,  is  much 
superior  to  those  journalists  who  profit  by  the  public 
feeling  of  the  day,  and  under  cover  of  high-sounding 
words  of  patriotism  do  not  fight  the  enemy  but  spit 
upon  him!' 

Of  all  these  young  writers  who  are  striving  to 
preserve  the  integrity  of  their  minds  against  the 
force  of  national  passions,  the  one  whose  per- 
sonality has  been  most  exalted  by  this  tempest, 

i6r  L 


Above  the  Battle 

the  most  eloquent,  courageous,  and  decided  of  all 

is   Wilhelm    Herzog.      He   is   the  editor   of  the 

Forum  at  Munich,  and  like  our  own  P«^guy,  when 

he  began  to  publish  his  Cahiers  de  la  Quinzainey 

he  fills  almost  the  whole  of  his  review  with  his 

own  burning  articles.    The  enthusiastic  biographer 

of  H.  von  Kleist,  he  sees  and  judges  the  events 

of  his  own  time  with  the  eyes  of  that  indomitable 

spirit.     The  German   censor  attempts  in  vain  to 

silence  him  and  to  forbid  the  publication  of  the 

lectures  of  Spitteler  and  of  Annette   Kolb ;    his 

indignation  and    cries    of  vengeful  irony   spread 

even  to  us.     He  attacks  bitterly  the  ninety-three 

intellectuals    who    ^^  fancy    they    are    all    Ajaxes 

because    they   bray  the   loudest"    those   politicians 

of  the    school    of    Haeckel,    who     make    a    new 

division    of    the    world,    those     patriotic     bards 

who    insult    other    nations ;    he   attacks    Thomas 

Mann    mercilessly,   scoffs    at    his    sophistry,   and 

defends  France,  the  French    Army,^  and   French 

civilisation  against  him  ;   he  points  out  that  the 

great  men  of  Germany  (Griinwald,  Durer,  Bach, 

and   Mozart   amongst   others)   have  always   been 

persecuted,  humiliated,  and   calumniated.^     In  an 

article    entitled    ''Der  neue   Geist,''  3   after   having 

'  Die  Uberschaetzung  der  Kunst  (December  19 14). 
'  Von  der  Vater lands  Hebe  (January  191 5). 
3  December  191 4. 

162 


War  Literature 

scoffed  at  the  banality  that  has  reappeared  in 
the  German  theatres,  and  the  literary  mediocrity 
of  patriotic  productions,  he  asked  where  this 
"new  spirit"  may  be  found,  and  this  gives  him 
an  opportunity  to  demolish  Ostwald  and  Lasson. 

"  Where  is  it  to  be  found  f  In  the  Hochschulen  f 
Have  we  not  read  that  incredibly  clumsy  (unwa- 
hrscheinlich  plumpen)  appeal  of  the  99  professors  f 
Have  we  not  appreciated  the  statements  of  that 
double  centenarian  (des  zweihundertjaehrige  Mum- 
melgreises)  mummy  Lasson  f  When  I  was 
studying  philosophy  as  an  undergraduate  at  the 
University  oj  Berlin,  the  theatre  in  which  he 
lectured  was  a  place  of  amusement  (Lachkabinett) 
for  us — nothing  more.  And  to-day  people  take 
him  seriously!  English,  French,  and  Italian  papers 
print  his  senile  babblings  against  Holland,  as 
typical  of  the  Stimmung  of  the  German  intellec- 
tuals. The  wrong  that  these  privy  councillors  and 
professors  have  done  us  with  their  Aufkldrung- 
sarbeit  can  hardly  be  measured.  They  have  isolated 
themselves  from  humanity  by  their  inability  to 
realise  the  feelings  of  others." 

In  opposition  to  these  false  representatives  of  a 
nation,  these  cultured  gossips  and  political  ad- 
venturers, he  extols  the  silent  ones,  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  of  all  nations  who  suffer 
163 


Above  the  Battle 

in  iilcnce  ;  and  he  joins  with  them  in  "  the  in- 
visible community  of  sorrow." 

"  One  who  is  suffering  and  knows  that  his 
sorrow  is  shared  by  millions  of  other  beings,  will 
bear  it  cahnly ;  he  will  accept  it  willingly  even, 
because  he  knows  that  he  is  enriched  thereby, 
made  stronger,  more  tender,  more  humane."  ^ 

And  he  quotes  the  words  of  old  Meister 
Eckehart :  *'  Suffering  is  the  fastest  steed  that 
will  bear  you   to  perfection." 

*  * 

At  the  close  of  this  summary  review  of  the 
young  writers  of  the  war,  a  place  must  be  found 
for  those  whom  the  war  has  crushed — they 
counted  amongst  the  best.  Ernst  Stadler  was 
an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  French  art  and  of  the 
French  spirit.  He  translated  Francis  Jammes, 
and  on  the  eve  of  his  death,  in  November,  he 
was  writing  to  Stefan  Zweig  from  the  trenches 
about  the  poems  of  Verlaine,  which  he  was 
translating.  The  unfortunate  George  Trakl,  the 
poet  of  melancholy,   was   made   lieutenant  of  a 

^  Hymns  auf  den  Schmerx  (January  191 5). — It  is  to  be 

noted  that  the  Forum  is  read  in  the  trenches,  and  that  it 

has    received   many  letters  of  approval  from   the    front. 

(^Der  Phrasenrausch  und  seine  Bekaempfer,  Februar)'  191 5.) 

164 


War  Literature 

sanitary  column  in  Galicia,  and  the  sight  of  so 
much  suffering  drove  him  to  despair  and  death. 
And  there  are  many  hidden  tragedies,  still  un- 
revealed.  When  they  are  made  known,  humanity 
will  tremble  in  contemplating  its  handiwork. 

I  reflected,  as  doubtless  many  of  my  French 
readers  have  also  done,  in  reading  through  these 
German  writings  inspired  by  the  war — writings 
through  which  from  time  to  time  there  passes 
a  mighty  breath  of  revolt  and  sorrow — that  our 
young  writers  are  not  writing  "literature."  Instead 
of  books  they  give  us  deeds,  and  their  letters.  And 
in  re-reading  some  of  their  letters  I  thought  that 
ours  had  chosen  the  better  part.  It  is  not  for 
me  now  to  point  out  the  position  that  this 
heroic  correspondence  will  occupy,  not  only  in  our 
history  but  also  in  our  literature.  Into  it  the 
flower  of  our  youth  has  put  all  its  life,  its  faith 
and  its  genius :  and  for  some  of  those  letters  I 
would  give  many  of  the  finest  lines  of  the 
noblest  poems.  Whatever  be  the  result  of  this 
war,  and  the  opinion  as  to  its  value  later,  it  will 
be  recognised  that  France  has  written  on  paper, 
mud-stained  and  often  blotted  with  blood,  some 
of  its  sublimest  pages.  Assuredly  this  war  touches 
us  more  nearly  than  it  does  our  adversaries,  for 
who  of  us  would  have  the  heart  to  write  a  play 
165 


Above  the   Battle 

or  a  novel  whilst   his   country  is  in  danger  and 
his  brothers  dying? 

But  I  will  make  no  comparisons  between  the 
two  nations.  For  the  present  the  essential  thing 
is  to  show  that  even  in  Germany  there  are  certain 
finer  minds  who  are  fighting  against  the  spirit 
which  we  hate — the  spirit  of  grasping  imperialism 
and  inhuman  pride,  of  military  caste  and  the 
megalomania  of  pedants.  They  are  but  a  mino- 
rity— we  have  no  illusions  about  that — and  we 
ought  to  redouble  our  efforts  on  that  account  to 
vanquish  the  common  enemy.  Why  then  should 
we  trouble  to  make  these  generous  but  feeble 
voices  heard  ?  Because  their  merit  is  the  greater 
for  being  so  little  heeded ;  because  it  is  the  duty 
of  those  who  are  fighting  for  justice  to  render 
justice  in  their  turn  to  all  those  men,  even  when 
they  dwell  in  a  country  in  which  the  state  repre- 
sents the  violation  of  right  by  Faustrecht,  who 
are  defending  with  us  the  spirit  of  liberty. 

Journal  de  Geneve^  April  19,  191 5. 


166 


XV 

THE   MURDER  OF  THE  ELITE 

The  phrase  is  not  new-coined  to-day ;  ^  but  the 
fact  is.  Never,  in  any  period,  have  we  seen 
humanity  throwing  into  the  bloody  arena  all 
its  intellectual  and  moral  reserves,  its  priests, 
its  thinkers,  its  scholars,  its  artists,  the  whole 
future  of  the  spirit — wasting  its  geniuses  as 
food  for  cannon. 

A  great  thing,  doubtless,  when  the  struggle 
is  great,  when  a  people  fights  for  an  eternal 
causCj  the  fervour  of  which  fires  the  whole 
nation,  from  the  smallest  to  the  greatest ;  when 
it  fuses  all  the  egoisms,  purifies  desire,  and 
out    of    many  souls  makes   one  unanimous  soul. 

'  I  take  the  phrase  from  M.  Lucien  Maury  in  an  article 
written  before  the  war  :  {Journal  de  Geneve)  March  30 
1914.  This  is  quoted  ecently  by  M.  Adolphe  Ferriire 
who,  in  his  remark.ible  Doctor's  thesis,  La  loi  du  Progrcs 
attempts  to  solve  the  tragic  problem  of  the  part  played  by 
the  elite. 

167 


Above  the  Battle 

But  if  the  cause  be  suspect  or  if  it  is  tainted 
(as  we  judge  that  of  our  adversaries  to  be), 
what  will  be  the  situation  of  a  moral  ^lite 
which  has  preserved  the  sad  and  lofty  privilege 
of  perceiving  at  least  a  part  of  the  truth,  and 
which  must  nevertheless  fight  and  die  and  kill 
for  a  faith  which  it  doubts? 

Those  passionate  natures  that  are  intoxi- 
cated by  fighting  or  are  voluntarily  blinded  by 
the  necessities  of  action  are  not  troubled  by 
these  questions.  For  them  the  enemy  is  a 
single  mass ;  nothing  else  exists  for  them  but 
this,  for  they  have  to  break  it  ;  it  is  their 
function  and  their  duty.  And  to  each  his 
special  duty.  But  if  minorities  do  not  exist 
for  such  men,  they  do  exist  for  us  who,  since 
we  are  not  fighting,  have  the  liberty  and  the 
duty  to  see  every  aspect  of  the  case — we  who 
form  part  of  the  eternal  minority,  the  minority 
which  has  been,  is,  and  always  will  be  eternally 
oppressed.  It  is  for  us  to  hear  and  to  proclaim 
these  moral  sufferings  !  Plenty  of  others  repeat 
or  invent  the  jubilant  echoes  of  the  struggle. 
May  other  voices  be  raised  to  give  the  tragic 
accents  of  the  fight  and  its  sacred  horror  I 

I  shall  take  my  examples  from  the  enemy 
camp,  for  several  reasons :  because  the  German 
i68 


The  Murder  of  the  ^^lite 

cause  being  from  the  first  tainted  with  injustice, 
the  sufferings  of  the  few  who  are  just,  and  the 
still  fewer  who  have  spiritual  perceptions  are 
greater  there  than  elsewhere ;  because  these 
evidences  appear  openly  in  publications  whose 
boldness  the  German  censorship  has  not  per- 
ceived ;  because  I  bow  with  respect  to  the  heroic 
discipline  of  silence  which  France  in  fighting  im- 
poses on  her  sufferings.  (Would  to  God  that 
this  silence  were  not  broken  by  those  who, 
trying  to  deny  these  sufferings,  profane  the 
grandeur  of  the  sacrifice  by  the  revolting  levity 
of  their  silly  jests  in  newspapers  which  are 
without  either  gravity  or  dignity.) 

I  have  shown  in  a  recent  article  that  a  part 
of  the  intellectual  youth  of  Germany  was  far 
from  sharing  the  war-madness  of  its  elders.  I 
cited  certain  energetic  reproofs  delivered  by 
these  young  writers  to  the  theorists  of  imperi- 
alism. And  these  writers  are  not,  as  one 
might  think  from  an  article  in  the  Temps 
(though  I  gladly  pay  a  tribute  to  its  honesty), 
merely  a  small  group  as  narrow  as  that  of 
our  symbolists.  They  count  among  them  writers 
who  appeal  to  a  large  public  and  who  do  not 
169 


Above  the  Battle 

set  out  in  any  way  (except  for  the  group  of 
Stefan  George)  to  write  for  a  select  few — they 
wish  to  write  for  all.  I  stated,  too,  that  the 
boldest  review  of  all,  Wilhelm  Herzog's  Forum, 
was  read  in  the  German  trenches  and  received 
approbation  thence. 

But  what  is  more  astonishing,  this  spirit  of 
criticism  has  possessed  some  of  the  combatants 
and  even  made  its  appearance  among  German 
officers.  In  the  November-December  number  of 
the  Friedens-  Warte,  published  in  Berlin,  Vienna, 
and  Leipzig,  by  Dr.  Alfred  H.  Fried,  there  occurs 
"  An  appeal  to  the  Germanic  peoples,"  addressed, 
at  the  end  of  October,  by  Baron  Marschall  von 
Biberstein,  Landrat  of  Prussia  and  captain  in 
the  1st  Foot  Guards  reserve.  This  article  was 
written  in  a  trench  north  of  Arras,  where  on  the 
nth  of  November,  Biberstein  was  killed.  He 
expresses  unreservedly  his  horror  of  the  war  and 
his  ardent  desire  that  it  may  be  the  last :  "  That 
is  the  conviction  of  those  at  the  front  who  are 
witnesses  of  the  unspeakable  horrors  of  modern 
warfare^  Even  more  praiseworthy  is  Biberstein's 
frankness  when  he  decides  to  begin  a  confession 
and  a  mea  culpa  for  the  sins  of  Germany.  "  The 
war  has  opened  my  eyes"  he  says,  "  to  our  terrible 
unlovableness  {Unbeliebtheii).  Everything  has  its 
170 


The  Murder  of  the  6Hte 

cause  ;  we  must  have  given  cause  for  this  hatred  ; 
and  even  in  part  have  justified  it.  .  .  .  Let  us 
hope  that  it  will  not  be  the  least  of  the  advantages 
of  this  war  that  Germany  will  turn  round  on 
herself  will  search  out  and  recognise  her  faults 
and  correct  them."  Unfortunately  even  this 
article  is  spoiled  by  Germanic  pride  which, 
desiring  a  world  peace,  sets  out  to  impose  it  on 
the  world.  Herein  it  recalls  in  some  respects 
the  bellicose  pacifism  of  the  too  celebrated 
Ostwald. 

But  another  officer  (of  whom  I  spoke  in  my 
last  article)  the  poet  Fritz  von  Unruh,  first  Lieu- 
tenant of  Uhlans  on  the  western  front,  has 
written  dramatic  scenes  in  verse  and  prose. 
These  have  appeared  recently  under  the  title 
Before  the  Decision  ( Vor  der  Entscheidung).  It 
is  a  dramatic  poem  in  which  the  author  has 
noted  his  own  impressions  and  his  moral  trans- 
formations. The  hero,  who  is  like  himself,  an 
officer  of  Uhlans,  passes  through  various  centres 
of  the  war  and  remains  everywhere  a  stranger; 
his  soul  is  detached  from  murderous  passions, 
he  sees  the  abominable  reality  until  his  sufferings 
from  it  amount  to  agony.  The  two  scenes  repro- 
duced by  the  Neue  Ziircher  Zeitung  show  us  a 
muddy  and  bloodstained  trench,  where  German 
171 


Above  the  Battle 

soldiers,  like  beasts  in  a  slaughter-house,  die  or 
await  death  with  bitter  words — and  officers  get- 
ting drunk  on  champagne  around  a  42  mm. 
mortar,  laughing  and  getting  excited  till  they 
fall  beneath  the  weight  of  sleep  and  fatigue. 

From  the  first  scene  I  take  these  terrible  words 
of  one  of  those  who  wait  in  the  trenches  under 
fire  of  the  machine  guns,  a  Dreissigjcehriger  (man 
of  thirty). 

In  my  village  they  are  laughing — they  drink  to  each 
victory.  They  slaughter  us  like  butcher's  cattle — and  they 
say  "  It's  war  ! "  When  it  is  over,  they  are  no  fools,  they 
will  feast  us  for  three  years.  But  the  first  cripple  won't  be 
grey  headed  before  they  will  laugh  at  his  white  hairs. 

And  the  Uhlan,  possessed  by  horror  in  the 
midst  of  the  massacre,  falls  on  his  knees  and 
prays  : 

Thou  who  gavest  life  and  takest  it — how  shall  I 
recognise  Thee?  In  these  trenches  strewn  with  muti- 
lated bodies  I  find  Thee  not.  Does  the  piercing  cry  of 
these  thousands  suffocated  in  the  terrible  embrace  of 
Death  reach  not  up  to  Thee?  Or  is  it  lost  in  frozen 
space  ?  For  whom  does  Thy  Springtime  blossom  ? 
For  whom  is  the  splendour  of  Thy  suns  ?  For  whom, 
O  God  ?  I  ask  it  of  Thee  in  the  name  of  all  those 
whose  mouths  are  closed  by  courage  and  by  fear  in  face 
of  the  horror  of  Thy  darkness  :  What  heat  is  left  within 
me?  What  light  of  truth?  Can  this  massacre  be  Thy 
will?    Is  it  indeed  Thy  will? 

{He  loses  consciousness  and  falls.) 
172 


The  Murder  of  the  felite 

A  pain  less  lyrical,  less  ecstatic,  more  simple, 
more  reflective,  and  nearer  to  ourselves  marks  the 
sequence  of  Feldpostbriefe  of  Dr.  Albert  Klein, 
teacher  in  the  Oberrealschule  at  Giessen  and 
Lieutenant  of  the  Landwehr,  killed  on  the  I2th 
of  February  in  Champagne.^  Passing  over  what 
are,  perhaps,  the  most  striking  pages  from  the 
point  of  view  of  artistic  quality  and  power  of 
thought,  I  will  only  give  two  extracts  from  these 
letters  which  are  likely  to  be  of  special  interest 
to  French  readers. 

The  first  describes  for  us  with  an  unusual 
frankness  the  moral  condition  of  the  German 
army  : 

Brave,  without  care  for  his  own  life  !  Who  is  there 
among  us  that  is  that  ?  We  all  know  too  well  our  own 
worth  and  our  own  possibilities  ;  we  are  in  the  flower 
of  our  age  :  force  is  in  our  arras  and  in  our  souls ;  and 
as  no  one  willingly  dies,  no  one  is  brave  {tapfer)  in  the 
usual  sense  of  the  word  :  or  at  least  such  are  very  rare. 
It  is  just  because  bravery  is  so  rare  in  life,  it  is  just 
for  that  that  we  expend  so  much  religion,  poetry,  and 
thought  (and  this  begins  already  at  school),  in  celebrating 
as  the  highest  fate  death  for  one's  fatherland,  until  it 
attains  its  climax  in  the  false  heroism  which  makes  such 
a  sensation    about   us    in   newspapers    and  speeches  and 


'  The  review  Die  Tat,  published  by  Eug.  Diederichs  at 
Jena,  prints  long  extracts  from  them  in  its  issue  for  May 
1915. 

^71 


Above  the  Battle 

which  is  so  cheap — and  also  in  the  true  heroism  of  a 
small  number  who  do  risk  themselves  and  lead  on  the 
others.  .  .  .  We  do  our  duty,  we  do  what  we  ought ;  but 
it  is  a  passive  virtue.  .  .  .  When  I  read  in  the  papers  the 
scribblings  of  those  who  have  a  bad  conscience  because 
they  are  safely  in  the  rear — when  I  read  this  talk  which 
makes  every  soldier  into  a  hero,  I  feel  hurt.  Heroism  is 
a  rare  growth,  and  you  cannot  build  on  it  a  citizen  army. 
To  keep  such  an  army  together  the  men  must  respect 
their  superiors,  and  even  fear  them  more  than  the  enemy. 
And  the  superiors  must  be  conscientious,  do  their  duty  well, 
know  their  business  thoroughly,  decide  rapidly,  and  have 
control  of  their  nerves.  When  we  read  the  praises  which 
those  behind  the  line  write  of  us,  we  blush.  Thank  God, 
old-fashioned,  robust  shame  is  not  dead  in  us.  .  .  .  Ah  I 
my  dear  friends,  those  who  are  here  don't  speak  so  com- 
placently of  death,  of  disease,  of  sacrifice,  and  of  victory 
as  do  those  who  behind  the  line  ring  the  bells,  make 
speeches,  and  write  newspapers.  The  men  here  accus- 
tom themselves  as  best  they  may  to  the  bitter  necessity 
of  suffering  and  of  death  if  fate  wills ;  but  they  know  and 
see  that  many  noble  sacrifices,  innumerable,  innumerable 
sacrifices  have  already  been  made,  and  that  already  for  a 
long  while  we  shall  have  had  more  than  enough  of  de- 
struction on  our  side  as  well  as  the  other.  It  is  precisely 
when  one  has  to  look  suffering  in  the  face  as  I  have  that  a 
tie  begins  to  be  formed  that  unites  one  to  those  over  there, 
on  the  other  side  (and  one  that  unites  you  too  with  them, 
my  friends  !  Yes,  surely  you  feel  it  too,  don't  you?)  If  I 
come  back  from  here  (which  I  scarcely  hope  for  any  more) 
my  dearest  duty  will  be  to  soak  myself  in  the  study  and  the 
thoughts  of  those  who  have  been  our  enemies.  I  wish  to 
reconstruct  my  nature  on  a  wider  basis.  .  .  .  And  I  believe 
that  it  will  be  easier  after  this  war  than  after  any  other  to 
be  a  human  being. 

174 


The  Murder  of  the  Elite 

The  second  fragment  is  the  account  of  a 
touching  encounter  with  a  French  prisoner  : 

Yesterday  evening  I  was  strangely  touched.  I  happened 
to  see  a  convoy  of  prisoners  and  I  talked  to  one  of  them, 
a  colleague  of  mine,   Professor  of  classical   philology  in 

the  college  of  F .     Such   an  open-minded,  intelligent 

man,  and  with  such  a  fine  military  bearing,  like  all  his  fellows, 
although  they  had  just  been  through  a  terrible  experience 
of  machine-gun  fire.  ...  It  was  a  proof  to  me  of  the 
senselessness  of  the  war.  I  thought  how  much  one  would 
have  liked  to  be  the  friend  of  these  men,  who  are  so  near 
us  in  their  education,  their  mode  of  life,  the  circle  of  their 
thought  and  their  interest.  We  started  talking  about  a 
book  on  Rousseau  and  we  began  to  dispute  like  old  philo- 
logists. .  .  .  How  much  we  are  alike  in  force  and  worth ! 
And  how  little  truth  there  is  in  what  our  papers  tell  us 
of  the  shaken  and  exhausted  conditions  of  the  French 
troops  !  As  true,  or  rather  as  untrue,  as  what  the  French 
newspapers  write  about  us.  .  .  .  My  French  colleague 
showed  in  his  remarks  such  a  balanced  mind  and  such 
understanding  and  admiration  of  German  thought !  To 
think  that  we  were  made  so  clearly  to  be  friends  and  that 
we  had  to  be  separated  !  I  was  altogether  overcome,  and 
sat  down  crushed  by  it.  I  thought  and  thought  and  could 
not  escape  my  mood  by  any  sophistry.  No  end,  no  end 
to  war,  which  for  nearly  six  months  now  has  swallowed 
in  its  gulf  men,  fortunes,  and  happiness  !  And  this 
feeling  is  the  same  with  us  as  with  the  other  side.  It  is 
always  the  same  picture  :  we  do  the  same  thing,  we  suffer 
the  same  thing,  we  are  the  same  thing.  And  it  is  precisely 
for  this  reason  that  we  are  so  bitterly  at  enmity.  .  .  . 

The  same  accent  of  troubled  anguish,  together 
with  a  despair  which  at  moments  nearly  reaches 
175 


Above  the  Battle 

to  madness,  and  at  others  breathes  a  religious  \' 
fervour,  are  seen  in  the  letters  of  a  German  soldier 
to  a  teacher  in  German  Switzerland.  (We  have 
known  of  these  at  the  Prisoners'  Agency  for 
three  or  four  months  and  they  were  published 
in  Foi  et  Vie  of  April  I5th.i  They  have  been 
passed  over  in  silence,  so  we  shall  persist  in 
calling  attention  to  them,  for  they  thoroughly 
deserve  it).  In  these  letters,  which  cover  from 
the  second  fortnight  of  August  to  the  end  of 
December,  we  see  from  the  25  th  of  August 
onwards  the  evidence  of  a  desire  for  peace 
among  the  German  soldiers. 

We  all,  even  those  who  were  hottest  for  the  fight  at 
the  beginning,  want  nothing  now  but  peace,  our  officers 
just  as  much  as  ourselves.  .  .  .  Convinced  as  we  are  of 
the  necessity  to  conquer,  warlike  enthusiasm  does  not  exist 
among  us  ;  we  fulfil  our  duty,  but  the  sacrifice  is  hard. 
We  suffer  in  our  souls.  ...  I  cannot  tell  you  the  sufferings 
I  endure.  .  .  . 

September  20th.  A  friend  writes  to  me :  "  On  the  20th 
to  25th  of  August  I  took  part  in  big  battles  :  since  then 
I  suffer  morally  even  to  complete  exhaustion,  both  physical 
and  spiritual.  My  soul  finds  no  repose.  .  .  .  This  war 
will  show  us  how  much  of  the  beast  still  survives  in  man, 
and  this  revelation  will  cause  us  to  make  a  great  step 
out  of  animalism  :  if  not,  it  is  all  up  with  us  ! " 

November  28th.  {A  splendid  passage  where  one  ahnost 
hears  the  voice  of  Tolstoi.)     What   are   all   the   torments 

'  With  an  introduction  by  C.  E.  Babut. 

176 


The  Murder  of  the  6lite 

of  war  compared  to  the  thoughts  that  obsess  us  night  and 
day?  When  I  am  on  some  hill  from  which  my  view 
commands  the  plain,  this  is  the  idea  which  ceaselessly 
tortures  me  :  down  there  in  the  valley  the  war  rages  ; 
those  brown  lines  which  furrow  the  landscape  are  full  oi 
men  who  are  facing  one  another  as  enemies.  And  up  there 
on  the  hill  opposite  you  there  is,  perhaps,  a  man  who,  like 
you,  is  contemplating  the  woods  and  the  blue  sky  and 
perhaps  ruminating  the  same  thoughts  as  you,  his  enemy  ! 
This  continual  proximity  might  make  one  mad  1  And  one 
is  tempted  to  envy  one's  comrades  who  can  kill  time  in 
sleeping  and  playing  cards. 

December  17th.  The  desire  for  peace  is  intense  in 
every  one  ;  at  least,  in  all  those  who  are  at  the  front  and 
who  are  obliged  to  assassinate  and  be  assassinated.  The 
newspapers  say  that  it's  hardly  possible  to  restrain  the 
warlike  ardour  of  the  fighters.  .  .  .  They  lie -consciously 
or  unconsciously.  Our  chaplains  in  their  sermons  dispute 
the  legend  that  our  military  ardour  is  slackening.  .  .  .  You 
can  hardly  believe  how  such  tittle-tattle  annoys  us.  Let 
them  be  silent,  and  let  them  not  talk  about  things  of  which 
they  can  know  nothing  !  Or  better  still,  let  them  come  not 
as  almoners  who  keep  to  the  rear,  but  into  the  firing-line, 
rifle  in  hand  !  Perhaps  then  they  will  get  to  know  of  the 
inner  changes  which  take  place  in  so  many  of  us.  Accord- 
ing to  these  chaplains,  any  one  who  is  without  warlike 
enthusiasm  is  not  a  man  such  as  our  age  demands.  To 
me  it  seems  that  we  are  greater  heroes  than  the  others, 
we,  who  without  being  upheld  by  warlike  enthusiasm, 
accomplish  faithfully  our  duty,  while  hating  war  with  our 
whole  souls.  .  .  .  They  talk  of  a  holy  war  ...  I  know 
of  no  holy  war.  I  only  know  of  one  war  which  is  the 
sum  of  all  that  is  inhuman,  impious,  and  bestial  in  man  ; 
it  is  God's  chastisement  and  a  call  to  repentance  for  the 
people  that  throws  itself  into  war  or  lets  itself  be  drawn 
177  M 


Above  the  Battle 

into  it.  God  sends  men  through  this  hell  so  that  they 
may  learn  to  love  heaven.  For  the  German  people  this 
war  seems  to  me  to  be  a  punishment  and  a  call  to  repent- 
ance,— and  most  of  all  for  our  German  Church.  I  have 
friends  who  suffer  at  the  idea  of  being  unable  to  do  any- 
thing for  the  fatherland.  Let  them  stay  at  home  with  a 
calm  conscience !  All  depends  on  their  peaceful  work. 
But  let  the  war  enthusiasts  come  !  Perhaps  they  will 
learn  to  ksep  silent. 

"  Why  publish  these  pages  ? "  I  shall  be  asked 
by  some  people  in  France.  "  What  good  is  it, 
when  once  war  is  let  loose,  to  arouse  pity  for 
our  adversaries,  at  the  risk  of  blunting  the  ardour 
of  the  combatants  ?  " — I  answer,  because  it  is  the 
truth,  and  because  the  truth  substantiates  our 
judgment,  the  judgment  of  the  whole  world 
against  the  German  leaders  and  their  policy. 
What  their  armies  have  done  we  know  ;  but  that 
they  were  able  to  do  it  containing  as  they  did 
such  elements  as  those  whose  confessions  we  have 
just  heard,  incriminates  still  more  deeply  their 
masters.  From  the  depths  of  the  battlefield, 
these  voices  of  a  sacrificed  minority  rise  up  as  a 
vengeful  condemnation  of  the  oppressors.  To  the 
accusations  drawn  up  against  predatory  Empires 
and  their  inhuman  pride,  in  the  name  of  violated 
right,  of  outraged  humanity  by  the  victim  peoples 
and  by  the  combatants,  is  added  the  cry  of  pain 
178 


The  Murder  of  the  6Ute 

of  the  nobler  souls  of  their  own  people  whom  the 
bad  shepherds  who  let  loose  this  war  have  led 
and  constrained  into  murder  and  madness.  To 
sacrifice  one's  body  is  not  the  worst  suffering, 
but  also  to  sacrifice,  to  deny,  to  kill  one's  own 
soul ! — You  who  die  at  least  for  a  just  cause,  and 
who,  full  of  sap  and  loaded  with  faith,  fall  like 
ripe  fruit,  how  sweet  is  your  lot  beside  this 
torture  !  But  we  shall  so  act  that  these  sufferings 
shall  not  be  vain. 

Let  the  conscience  of  humanity  hear  and  accept 
their  complaint !  It  will  resound  in  the  future 
above  the  glory  of  battles ;  and  whether  she  wills 
or  no.  History  will  place  it  on  her  register.  History 
will  do  justice  between  the  hangmen  and  their 
peoples.  And  the  peoples  will  learn  how  to 
deliver  themselves  from  their  hangmen. 
Journal  de  Geneve,  June  14,  191 5. 


179 


XVI 

JAURES 

Battles  are  being  fought  under  our  eyes  in 
which  thousands  of  men  are  dying,  yet  the 
sacrifice  of  their  h'ves  does  not  always  influence 
the  issue  of  the  combat.  In  other  cases  the  death 
of  a  single  man  may  be  a  great  battle  lost  for  the 
whole  of  humanity.  The  murder  of  Jaur^s  was 
such  a  disaster. 

Whole  centuries  were  needed  to  produce  such 
a  life  ;  rich  civilisations  of  North  and  South,  of 
past  and  present,  spread  out  on  the  good  soil  of 
France,  matured  beneath  our  Western  skies.  The 
mysterious  chance  which  combines  elements  and 
forces  will  not  easily  produce  a  noble  spirit  like 
his  a  second  time. 

Jaur^s  is  a  type,  almost  unique  in  modern  times, 
of  the  great  political  orator  who  is  also  a  great 
thinker,  and  who  combines  vast  culture  with 
penetrating  observation,  and  moral  grandeur  with 
energetic  activity.  We  must  go  back  to  antiquity 
180 


Jaur^s 


to  find  one  who,  like  him,  could  stir  the  crowd 
and  give  pleasure  to  the  few  ;  pour  out  his  over- 
flowing genius  not  only  in  his  speeches  and  social 
treatises,  but  also  in  his  philosophical  and 
historical  works ;  ^  and  leave  on  all  things  the 
impress  of  his  personality,  the  furrow  of  his  robust 
labour,  the  seeds  of  his  progressive  mind.  I  have 
listened  to  him  often  in  the  Chamber,  at  socialist 
congresses,  at  meetings  held  on  behalf  of  op- 
pressed nations ;  he  even  did  me  the  honour  of 
presenting  my  Danton  to  the  people  of  Paris. 
Again  I  see  his  full  face,  calm  and  happy  like 
that  of  a  kindly,  bearded  ogre ;  his  small  eyes, 
bright  and  smiling  ;  eyes  as  quick  to  follow  the 
flight  of  ideas  as  to  observe  human  nature.  I  see 
him  pacing  up  and  down  the  platform,  walking 
with  heavy  steps  like  a  bear,  his  arms  crossed 
behind  his  back,  and  turning  sharply  to  hurl  at 
the   crowd,   in   his    monotonous,    metallic    voice, 

'  His  principal  philosophical  work  is  his  Doctor's  thesis  : 
La  realitc  du  monde  sensible  (1891).  Another  thesis  (in 
Latin)  dates  from  the  same  year  :  Des  origines  du  socialistne 
allemand^  in  which  he  goes  back  to  the  Christian  socialism 
of  Luther. 

His  great  historical  work  is  his  Histoire  sociale  de  la 
Revolution.  Very  interesting  is  his  discussion  with  Paul 
Lafargue  on  ridcalisvie  et  le  inatcrialisme  dans  la  con- 
ception de  Phistoire. 

l8i 


Above  the  Battle 

words  like  the  call  of  a  trumpet,  which  reached 
the  farthest  seats  in  the  vast  amphitheatre,  and 
went  straight  to  the  heart,  making  the  soul  of 
the  whole  multitude  leap  in  one  united  emotion. 
What  beauty  there  was  in  the  sight  of  these 
proletarian  masses  stirred  by  the  visions  which 
Jaur^s  evoked  from  distant  horizons,  imbibing 
the  thought  of  Greece  through  the  voice  of  their 
tribune  ! 

Of  all  this  man's  gifts  the  most  fundamental 
was  to  be  essentially  a  tnan — not  the  man  of  a 
single  profession,  or  class,  or  party,  or  idea — but 
a  complete,  harmonious,  and  free  man.  His  all- 
comprehensive  nature  could  be  the  slave  of 
nothing.  The  highest  manifestations  of  life 
flowed  together  and  met  in  him.  His  intelligence 
demanded  unity,^  his  heart  was  full  of  a  passion 
for  liberty,^  and  this  twofold  instinct  protected 
him  alike  from  party  despotism  and  anarchy.     His 

'  "  The  need  of  unity  is  the  profoundest  and  noblest  of 
the  human  mind  "  {La  realite  du  monde  sensible). 

'  "  This  young  democracy  must  be  given  a  taste  for  liberty 
It  has  a  passion  for  equality  ;  it  has  not  in  the  same 
degree  an  idea  of  liberty,  which  is  acquired  much  more 
slowly  and  with  greater  difficulty.  We  must  give  the 
children  of  the  people,  by  means  of  a  sufficiently  lofty 
exercise  of  their  powers  of  thinking,  a  sense  of  the  value  of 
man  and  consequently  of  the  value  of  liberty,  without  which 
man  does  not  exist."    (To  the  teachers,  January  15,  1888.) 

182 


Jaur^s 


spirit  sought  to  encompass  all  things,  not  in 
order  to  do  violence  to  them,  but  to  bring  them 
into  harmony.  Above  all,  he  had  the  power  of 
seeing  the  human  element  in  all  things,  and  this 
universal  sympathy  was  equally  averse  to  narrow 
negation  and  fanatical  affirmation.  All  intoler- 
ance inspired  him  with  horror.^ 

He  had  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  great 
revolutionary  party,  but  it  was  with  the  desire 
*'  of  saving  the  great  work  of  democratic  revolu- 
tion from  the  sickening  and  brutal  odour  of  blood, 
murder,  and  hatred  which  still  clings  to  the 
memory  of  the  middle-class  Revolution."  In  his 
own  name,  and  in  the  name  of  his  party,  he 
demanded  "  with  regard  to  all  doctrines,  respect 
for  the  human  personality  and  for  the  spirit  which 
is  manifested  in  each."  The  mere  feeling  of  the 
moral  antagonism  which  exists  between  man  and 
man,  even  when  there  is  no  open  conflict,  the 
sense  of  the  invisible  barriers  which  render  human 
brotherhood  impossible,  was  painful  to  him.  He 
could  not  read  those  words  of  Cardinal  Newman 
in    which   he   speaks   of  the   gulf  of  damnation, 

'  "  As  for  myself,  I  have  never  made  use  of  violence  to 
attack  beliefs,  whatever  they  may  be  ;  nay,  more,  I  have 
always  abstained  even  from  that  form  of  violence  which 
consists  in  insult.  Insult  expresses  a  weak  and  feverish 
revolt,  rather  than  the  liberty  of  reason."    (1901.) 

183 


Above  the  Battle 

which,  even  in  this  life,  is  fixed  between  men, 
without  having  "  a  sort  of  nightmare.  .  .  .  He  saw 
the  abyss  ready  to  gape  beneath  the  feet  of 
fragile  and  unhappy  human  beings  who  think 
themselves  bound  together  by  a  community 
of  sympathy  and  suffering  " — the  sadness  of  this 
thought  obsessed  him. 

To  fill  in  this  abyss  of  misunderstanding  was 
his  life-work.  Herein  lay  the  originality  of  his 
standpoint,  that  although  he  was  the  spokesman 
of  the  most  advanced  parties,  he  became  the  con- 
tinual mediator  between  conflicting  ideas.  He 
sought  to  unite  them  all  in  the  service  of  progress 
and  of  the  common  good.  In  philosophy  he 
united  idealism  and  realism — in  history,  the  past 
and  the  present — in  politics,  the  love  of  his  own 
country  and  a  respect  for  other  countries.^  He 
refrained  from  denouncing  that  which  has  been, 
in  the  name  of  that  which  is  to  be,  as  many 
so-called  free-thinkers  have  done ;  and  far  from 
condemning,  he  upheld  the  theories  of  all  those 
who  had  been  fighters  in  past  centuries,  to  what- 

'  "  The  true  formula  of  patriotism  is  the  equal  right  of  all 
countries  to  liberty  and  justice  ;  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
citizen  to  increase  in  his  own  country  the  forces  of  liberty 
and  justice.  Those  are  but  sorry  patriots  who  in  order  to 
love  and  serve  one  country,  find  it  necessary  to  decry  the 
others,  the  other  great  moral  forces  of  humanity."    (1905.) 

184 


Jaur^s 


ever  party  they  might  have  belonged.  "We 
reverence  the  past,"  he  said.  "  Not  in  vain  have 
blazed  the  hearths  of  all  the  generations  of  man- 
kind— but  it  is  we  who  are  advancing,  who  are 
fighting  for  a  new  ideal,  it  is  we  who  are  the  true 
inheritors  of  the  hearth  of  our  ancestors.  We  have 
taken  the  flame  thereof,  you  have  preserved  only 
the  ashes."  (January  1909.)  In  his  Introduction 
to  FHistoire  socialiste  de  la  Revolution,  in  which 
he  attempts  to  reconcile  Plutarch,  Michelet,  and 
Karl  Marx,  he  writes :  "  We  hail  with  equal 
respect  all  men  of  heroic  will.  History,  even 
when  conceived  as  a  study  of  economic  forms, 
will  never  dispense  with  individual  valour  and 
nobility.  The  moral  level  of  society  to-morrow 
will  be  determined  by  the  standard  of  morality  of 
conscience  to-day.  So  that,  to  offer  the  examples 
of  all  the  heroic  fighters  who  for  the  past  century 
have  been  inspired  by  an  ideal  and  held  death 
in  sublime  contempt,  is  to  do  revolutionary  work." 
In  everything  he  touches  he  achieves  a  generous 
synthesis  of  life ;  he  imposes  his  grand  panoramic 
conception  of  the  universe,  the  sense  of  the  mani- 
fold and  moving  unity  of  all  things.  This  admir- 
able equilibrium  of  countless  elements  presupposes 
in  the  man  who  achieves  it  magnificent  health  of 
body  and  of  mind,  a  mastery  of  his  whole  being. 
185 


Above  the  Battle 

And  Jaur^s  possessed  this  mastery,  and  because 
of  it  he  was  the  pilot  of  European  democracy. 
How  clear  and  far  reaching  was  his  foresight ! 
In  years  to  come,  when  the  record  of  the  war  of 
to-day  is  set  down,  he  will  appear  therein  as  a 
terrible  witness.  Was  there  anything  he  did  not 
foresee  ?  One  needs  only  to  read  through  his 
speeches  during  the  last  ten  years.^  It  is  yet  too 
early,  in  the  midst  of  the  conflict,  to  quote  freely 
his  predictions  concerning  the  coming  retribution. 
Let  us  recall  only  his  agonised  presentiment,  ever 
since  the  year  1905,  of  the  monstrous  war  which 
was  imminent; 2  his  consciousness  "of  the  an- 
tagonism, now  muffled,  now  acute,  but  always 
profound  and  terrible,  between  Germany  and 
England"  (November  18,  1909) ;  3  his  denuncia- 
tion of  the  secret  dealings  of  European  finance 
and  diplomacy,  dealings  which  are  encouraged 
by  the  "  torpor  oi  public  spirit  "  ;  his  cry  of  alarm 

'  Or  the  extracts  given  by  Charles  Rappoport  in  his 
excellent  book  Jean  Jaurcs^  Phomme^  le  penseur,  le  socialiste 
(1915,  Paris,  PEmancipatrice),  with  an  introduction  by 
Anatole  France.  See  also  the  pamphlet  by  Rene  Legand, 
Jean  Jaures.  From  this  book  are  quoted  the  passages 
referred  to  in  the  notes  which  follow,  Jean  Jaures,  a 
brochure  by  Rene  Legand,  should  also  be  read. 

'  Rappoport,  op.  ctt.,  pp.  70-77. 

3  Rappoport,  p.  234. 

186 


Jaur^s 


at  **  the  sensational  lies  of  the  press,  actuated  by 
the  rotten  system  of  capitalism,  sowing  panic  and 
hatred,  and  playing  cynically  with  the  lives  of 
millions  of  men,  through  mere  financial  considera- 
tions or  delirious  pride  "  ;  his  contemptuous  words 
for  those  whom  he  calls  "the  jockeys  of  his 
country " ;  his  clear  perception  of  all  responsi- 
bilities ;i  his  foreknowledge  of  the  domesticated 
attitude  which  would  be  adopted  in  case  of  war 
by  the  Social-democratic  party  of  Germany,  to 
whom  he  showed,  as  in  a  mirror  (at  the  Amster- 
dam Congress  in  1904)  their  haughty  weakness 
their  lack  of  revolutionary  tradition,  their  want  of 
parliamentary  strength,  their  "  formidable  power- 
lessness";2  of  the  attitude  which  certain  leaders 
of  French  Socialism,  too,  and  amongst  others 
Jules  Guesde,  would  maintain  in  the  conflict 
between  the  great  States  of  Europe; 3  and,  look- 
ing even  beyond  the  war,  his  premonition  of  the 
consequences,  near  and  remote,  national  and  inter- 
national, of  this  conflict  of  nations. 

How  would  he  have  acted  had  he  lived  ?     The 

'  In  his  speech  at  Vaise,  near  Lyon,  July  25, 1914,  six  days 
before  his  death,  he  said  :  "  Every  people  appears  through- 
out the  streets  of  Europe  carrying  its  little  torch  ;  and  now 
comes  the  conflagration." 

*  Rappoport,  p.  61. 

'  Rappoport,  p.  369-70. 

187 


Above  the  Battle 

proletariat  of  Europe  looked  to  him  for  guidance, 
and  had  faith  in  him — Camille  Huysmans  has 
said  so  in  the  speech  delivered  at  his  grave  in 
the  name  of  the  Workers'  International. ^  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  when  he  had  fought  against 
the  war  until  all  hope  of  preventing  it  was  gone, 
he  would  have  yielded  loyally  to  the  common 
duty  of  national  defence  and  taken  part  in  it  with 
all  his  might.  He  had  announced  this  point  of 
view  at  the  Congress  in  Stuttgart,  in  1907,  in  full 
agreement  therein  with  Vandervelde  and  Bebel : 
"If,  whatever  the  circumstances,  a  nation  were  to 
refuse  from  the  outset  to  defend  itself,  it  would  be 
entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  Governments  of 
violence,  barbarism,  and  reaction  ...  A  unity 
of  mankind  which  was  the  result  of  the  absorp- 
tion of  conquered  nations  by  one  dominating 
nation  would  be  a  unity  realised  in  slavery." 
On  his  return  to  Paris,  in  giving  an  account  of 
the  Congress  to  French  Socialists  (September  7, 

'  "Throughout  the  world  there  are  six  millions  of  us, 
organised  workmen,  for  whom  the  name  of  Jaures  was  the 
incarnation  of  the  noblest  and  most  complete  aspiration, 
...  I  remember  what  he  was  for  the  workmen  of  other 
countries.  I  see  still  the  foreign  delegates  who  awaited  his 
words  before  forming  their  final  opinions ;  even  when  they 
were  not  in  agreement  Avith  him  they  were  glad  to  approach 
his  point  of  view.  He  was  more  than  the  Word  :  he  was  the 
Conscience." 

188 


J 


aures 

1907,  at  the  TivoH  Vaux-Hall),  he  impressed  upon 
them  their  double  duty — war  against  war,  so  long 
as  it  is  only  a  menace  upon  the  horizon,  and  in  the 
hour  of  danger  war  in  defence  of  national  inde- 
pendence. For  this  great  European  was  also  a 
great  Frenchman.^  Yet  it  is  certain,  too,  that  the 
firm  accomplishment  of  his  patriotic  duty  would 
not  have  prevented  him  from  maintaining  his 
human  ideals,  and  watching  with  untiring  eyes 
for  every  opportunity  of  reconstructing  the  shat- 
tered unity.  Certainly  he  would  not  have  allowed 
the   vessel   of    socialism    to    drift,   as   his    feeble 

successors  have  done. 

* 

*  * 

He  has  passed  from  us.  But  the  reflection 
of    his     luminous    genius,  his    kindness    in    the 

'  Who  has  spoken  more  nobly  than  he  of  the  eternal  France, 
"the  true  France,  that  is  not  summed  up  by  an  epoch  or 
by  a  day,  neither  by  the  day  of  long  ago,  nor  the  day  that 
has  just  passed,  but  the  whole  of  France  complete  in  the 
succession  of  her  days,  of  her  nights,  of  her  dawns,  of  her 
shadows,  of  her  heights  and  ©f  her  depths  ;  of  France  who, 
across  all  these  mingled  shades,  all  these  half-lights  and  all 
these  vicissitudes,  goes  forward  towards  a  brilliance  which 
she  has  not  yet  attained,  but  which  is  foreshadowed  in  her 
thought!"     (1910.) 

See  his  masterly  picture  of  French  history,  and  his  mag 
nificent  eulogy  of  France,  at  the  Conference  of  1905,  which 
he  was  prevented  from  delivering  in   Berlin,   and   which 
Robert  Fischer  read  in  his  place. 
189 


Above  the  Battle 

bitter  struggle,  his  indestructible  optimism  even 
in  the  midst  of  disaster,  shine  above  the  carnage 
of  Europe,  over  which  the  dusk  is  gathering, 
like  the  splendour  of  the  setting  sun.i 

There  is  one  page  which  he  wrote,  which 
cannot  be  read  without  emotion — an  immortal 
page  in  which  he  represents  the  noble  Herakles, 
resting  after  his  labours  on  the  maternal  earth  : 

"  There  are  hours,"  he  says,  "  when  in  feeling 
the  earth  beneath  our  feet,  we  experience  a 
joy  deep  and  tranquil  as  the  earth  herself.  How 
often  on  my  journey  along  footpaths  and  across 
fields  I  have  realised  suddenly  that  it  was  in- 
deed the  earth  on  which  I  trod,  that  I  belonged 
to  her,  as  she  belonged  to  me !  Then  without 
thinking  I  went  more  slowly,  because  it  was 
not  worth  while  to  hasten  across  her  surface, 
because  I  was  conscious  of  her  and  possessed 
her  at  each  step  I  took,  and  my  soul  was 
moving  within  her  depths.  How  many  times 
at  the  fall  of  day,  as  I  lay  by  the  side  of 
a  ditch,  my  eyes  turned  towards  the  faint  blue 
of  the  eastern  sky,  I  have  suddenly  realised 
that  the  earth  was  speeding  on  her  journey 
hastening  from  the  fatigues  of  the  day  and  the 
limited  horizons  which  the  sun  illumines,  and 
rushing     with      prodigious      force     towards    the 

190 


Jaures 


serenity  of  night  and  unlimited  horizons,  and 
bearing  me  with  her.  I  felt  in  my  body  as  in 
my  soul,  and  in  the  earth  herself  as  in  my 
body,  the  thrill  of  this  journey,  and  a  strange 
sweetness  in  those  blue  spaces  which  opened 
out  before  us,  without  a  shock,  without  a  fold, 
without  a  murmur.  Oh !  how  much  deeper  and 
more  intense  is  this  kinship  of  our  flesh  with 
the  earth,  than  the  vague  and  wandering  kinship 
of  our  eyes  with  the  starry  heavens.  How  much 
less  beautiful  the  night  with  its  stars  would  be 
to  us,  did  we  not  feel  ourselves  at  the  same 
time  bound  to  the  earth." 

He  has  returned  to  the  earth — that  earth 
which  belonged  to  him,  that  earth  to  which  he 
belonged.  They  have  again  taken  possession  of 
each  other,  and  his  spirit  is  even  now  warming 
and  humanising  her.  Beneath  the  torrents  of 
blood  shed  upon  his  tomb  the  new  life  and  the 
peace  of  to-morrow  are  already  springing.  It 
was  a  favourite  and  often  repeated  thought  of 
Jaures,  as  of  Heraclitus  of  old,  that  nothing  can 
interrupt  the  flow  of  things,  that  "  peace  is  only 
a  form  or  aspect  of  war,  war  only  a  form  or 
aspect  of  peace,  and  what  is  conflict  to-day  is 
the  beginning  of  the  reconciliation  of  to-morrow." 

R.  R. 

Journal  de  Geneve^  August  2,  1915. 

191 


NOTES 
To  Page  19  ("Letter  to  Gerhart  Hauptmann") 

The  letter  to  Gerhart  Hauptmann,  written  after  the 
destruction  of  Louvain,  and  in  the  stress  of  the  emotior* 
aroused  by  the  first  news,  was  provoked  by  a  high-sounding 
article  of  Hauptmann  which  appeared  a  few  days  previously. 
In  that  letter  he  rebutted  the  accusation  of  barbarism  hurled 
against  Germany,  and  returned  it  .  .  .  against  Belgium. 
The  article  ended  as  follows  : 

"...  I  assure  M.  Maeterlinck  that  no  one  in  Germany 
thinks  of  imitating  the  act  of  his  'civilised  nation.'  We 
prefer  to  be  and  to  remain  the  German  barbarians  for  whom 
the  women  and  the  children  of  our  enemies  are  sacred. 
I  can  assure  him  that  we  never  thoughtlessly  massacre 
and  make  martyrs  of  Belgian  women  and  children.  Our 
witnesses  are  on  our  frontiers  ;  the  socialist  beside  the 
bourgeois,  the  peasant  beside  the  savant,  and  the  prince 
beside  the  workman  :  and  all  fight  with  a  full  realisation 
of  the  object,  for  a  noble  and  rich  national  treasure,  for 
internal  and  external  goods  which  aid  the  progress  and 
the  ascent  of  humanity." 

To  Page  41  ("Above  the  Battle") 

My  enemies  have  not  failed  to  make  use  of  this  passage 
to  attribute  to  me  sentiments  of  contempt  with  regard  to  the 
peoples  of  Asia  and  Africa.    This  charge  is  all  the  less 

193  N 


Notes 

justified  in  that  I  have  precious  friendships  amongst  the 
intellectuals  of  Asia,  with  whom  I  have  remained  in 
correspondence  during  this  war.  These  friends  have  been 
so  little  misled  as  to  my  real  thought  that  one  of  them, 
a  leading  Hindu  writer,  Ananda  Coomaraswamy,  has 
dedicated  to  me  an  admirable  essay  which  appeared  in 
the  New  Age  (December  1914),  entitled  "A  World  Policy 
for  India,"  but — 

1.  Asiatic  troops,  recruited  amongst  races  of  professional 
warriors,  in  no  way  represent  the  thought  of  Asia,  as 
Coomaraswamy  agrees. 

2.  The  heroism  of  the  troops  of  Africa  and  Asia  is  not 
under  discussion.  There  was  no  need  for  the  hecatombs, 
which  have  been  made  during  the  past  year,  to  evoke 
admiration  for  their  splendid  devotion. 

3.  As  regards  barbarism,  I  am  glad  to  confess  that  now 
the  "  white-skins "  can  no  longer  reproach  "  skins  black, 
red,  or  yellow"  in  this  respect. 

4.  It  is  not  the  latter  but  the  former  whom   I   blame. 

I   denounce   to-day  once    more   with   as   much   vigour  as 

fourteen  months  ago,  the  short-sighted  policy  which  has 

introduced  Africa  and  Asia '  into  the  quarrels  of  Europe. 

The  future  will  justify  my  indictment. 

R.  R. 


'  The  terms  Asia  and  Africa  have  not,  of  course,  a  geograpliical 
but  an  ethnological  signification.  Turkey  is  not,  and  never  has  been, 
European  ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  decide  up  to  what  point  certain  of  the 
Balkan  Powers  are  European. 


Printed  iit  Great  Britain  by 

UKWIN  BROTHERS,  LIMITED,  THE  QRESHAH  PRESS.  WOKING  AMD  LONDON 


War  and  Civilization 

By  the  Rt.  Hon.  J.  M.  ROBERTSON,  M.P. 

Author  of  "  The  Evolution  of  States,"  "  Patriotism  and  Empire,"  etc. 

Crown  8r<>.  zs.  6d.  net. 

Professor  Steffen,  the  holder  of  a  chair  of  Social  Science  at  Stockholm, 
has  produced  a  book  under  the  above  title,  in  which  he  justifies  the 
policy  of  Germany  in  terms  of  her  imperial  need  for  expansion  and  her 
"  Kultur,"  which  for  him  makes  incredible  the  charges  brought  against 
her  by  the  Allies,  even  as  regards  her  invasion  of  Belgium.  Translated 
into  German,  the  book  is  accepted  on  the  German  side  as  a  vindication. 
Mr.  Robertson,  putting  his  reply  in  the  form  of  an  Open  Letter,  traverses 
the  whole  case,  analysing  the  political  and  the  sociological  argument,  and 
presenting  a  strong  counter  indictment. 

Towards  a  Lasting  Settlement 

By  G.    LOWES  DICKINSON,   H.    N.    BRAILSFORD, 

J.    A.    HOBSON,    VERNON    LEE,    PHILIP 

SNOWDEN,  M.P.,  A.  MAUD  ROYDEN, 

H.    SIDEBOTHAM,    and  Others. 

Edited  by  CHARLES   RODEN    BUXTON. 

Crown  8vo,  Cloth.  is.  Sd.  net.     Postage  \d. 

This  book  is  inspired  by  the  predominant  aim  of  securing  that  a 
catastrophe  such  as  the  present  War  shall  never  recur.  It  deals  with  the 
fundamental  questions  which  underlie  the  settlement  of  the  war — 
International  Agreement  or  partnership  as  opposed  to  the  "balance 
of  power"  policy,  the  principle  of  nationality,  the  questions  of  equal 
economic  opportunities,  and  the  so-called  "  freedom  of  the  seas,"  and 
publicity  and  democratic  influence  in  foreign  policy.  It  deals  also  with 
even  deeper  problems  which  cannot  be  left  out  of  sight  at  a  time  like  the 
present — the  relation  of  war,  for  instance,  to  self-government,  to  the 
interests  of  women,  and  to  civilization  itself.  It  looks  to  the  future 
rather  than  to  the  past.  It  deals  with  problems  that  must  and  will  be 
discussed,  not  only  during  the  continuance  of  the  war,  but  during  the 
peace  negotiations  and  for  many  months,  if  not  for  many  years,  after  a 
settlement  has  been  reached.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  examination  of  the 
problems  which  it  is  indispensable  to  understand  if  we  are  to  t>e  enabled 
to  advocate  or  to  criticize  any  scheme  of  international  reconstruction,  and 
to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  permanent  peace.  The  names  of  the  writers  are 
a  guarantee  both  that  the  treatment  will  be  thorough,  and  that  the 
various  subjects  will  be  presented  with  vividness  and  lucidity. 


The  Future  of  Democracy 

By   H.   M.   HYNDMAN 

Author  of  "  England  for  All,"  "  The  Historical  Basis  of  Socialism," 

"  The  Commercial  Crises  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  "  The 

Bankruptcy  of  India,"  "  The  Economics  of  Socialism," 

"  Reminiscences  and  Further  Reminiscences." 

Creton  Zvo.  is.  dd.  net. 

This  book  is  a  collection  of  essays  upon  the  great  social  and  political 

forces  of  our  time  :  the  causes  which  brought  the  present  War  and  those 

which  are  working  to  remodel  our  Society  when  Peace  has  been  made. 

The  volume  contains  not  only  the  impressions  of  recent  events  but  the 

conclusions  drawn  from  the  experience  of  fifty  years.    The  inevitable 

development  from  the  present  anarchical  period    of    transition  to  an 

organized  democratic  collectivism  is  clearly  indicated. 

The  author  has  seen  many  changes  in  Europe,  and  is  able,  from  the 
fullness  of  his  knowledge,  to  forecast  the  probable  course  of  events  and  to 
drive  home  his  warnings  of  long  ago,  which  are  already  being  largely 
justified. 

Towards  International 
Government 

By  JOHN    A.    HOBSON 

Author  of  "Imperialism,"  "Work  and  Wealth,"  etc. 
Creton  8r<»,  Cloth.  zs.  dd.  net. 

"  Always  lucid,  cogent,  and  unflinching  in  his  argument,  and 
.  .  .  leads  us  step  by  step  towards  the  conclusion  that  .  .  .  the 
boldest  solution  is  safest  and  simplest." — Manchester  Guardian. 

"  His  work  is  of  the  utmost  value  as  a  storehouse  of  information 
argument,  and  suggestion." — Common  Cause. 

The  Coming  Scrap  of  Paper 

By  EDWARD  W.  EDSALL 

Crown  Svo,  Cloth.  zs.  6d.  net. 

This  book  shows  that  the  gold  standard  upon  which  our  whole  national 
life  is  based  has  for  years  past  been  undermined  by  paper  money  (i.e.  by 
means  of  the  cheque  system)  and,  in  fact,  has  already  been  virtually 
destroyed. 

It  goes  on  to  show  how  this  process  has  opened  the  way  to  alterations 
in  all  the  relations  of  national  life  that  are  fraught  with  untold  possibilities 
for  the  welfare  of  every  class  of  the  community,  and  would  also  operate, 
in  due  time,  for  the  benefit  of  the  world  at  large. 

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